“A vice-president’s power is largely dependent on the holder’s status in the party, and whether he holds other titles in the party, such as the top policymaker on Hong Kong and Macau affairs, or the party’s ideology chief.”

Wang Qishan still attending top Communist Party meetings and in line for China’s vice-presidency

During Bush’s two terms as vice-president – from 1981 to 1989 – China saw its first two vice-presidents since the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution. In a short release, the state-run Xinhua News Agency said that the Central Committee had proposed to remove from the country’s constitution the expression that the president and vice president “shall serve no more than two consecutive terms.”

It said the proposal was made public Sunday, a day ahead of a scheduled meeting of the Central Committee. Xi, 64, cemented his status as the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao in the 1970s at last year’s twice-a-decade Communist Party congress, where his name and a political theory attributed to him were added to the party constitution as he was given a second five-year term as general secretary. When authorised by the president, the vice-president could perform some presidential duties, it says, such as confirming the appointment of a premier, signing laws or declaring war following legislative approval. There are no longer any checks and balances.”

Xi is coming to the end of his first five-year term as president and is set to be appointed to his second term at an annual meeting of the rubber-stamp parliament that starts March 5.
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposes that the country's constitution be amended to abolish term limits for the posts of President and Vice President. The move is seen as an attempt by current president Xi Jinping to solidify his power.