China scraps presidential term limits in historic move allowing Xi Jinping to rule indefinitely

Chinese legislators have passed a historic constitutional amendment that abolishes term limits and will enable President Xi Jinping to rule indefinitely.

The National People's Congress' nearly 3,000 hand-picked delegates endorsed the constitutional amendment on Sunday, voting 2,958 in favour with two opposed, three abstaining and one vote invalidated.

The amendment upends a system enacted by former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in 1982 to prevent a return to the bloody excesses of a lifelong dictatorship typified by Mao Zedong's chaotic 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution.

The constitution had until now limited presidents to serving only two consecutive terms.

The slide towards one-man rule under Xi has fuelled concern that Beijing is eroding efforts to guard against the excesses of autocratic leadership and make economic regulation more stable and predictable.

The success of the vote to hand Xi lifelong power was never in doubt, with compliant carrying out a rubber-stamp vote to approve the proposal.

There was applause as the result was announced in the National Congress, though Xi appeared to show little emotion at the result.

The legislature's spokesman has said the abolishing of term limits is aimed only at bringing the office of the president in line with Xi's other positions atop the ruling Communist Party and the Central Military Commission, which do not impose term limits.

The move is widely seen as the culmination of the 64-year-old Xi's efforts since being appointed leader of the party in 2012 to concentrate power in his own hands and defy norms of collective leadership established over the past two decades.

Xi has appointed himself to head bodies that oversee national security, finance, economic reform and other major initiatives, effectively sidelining the party's No. 2 figure, Premier Li Keqiang.

In a sign of the issue's sensitivity, the government censors are aggressively scrubbing social media of expressions ranging from "I disagree" to "Xi Zedong." A number of prominent Chinese figures have publicly protested the move, despite the risk of official retaliation.