Both the president and vice president are elected by the NPC.
According to the Constitution, candidates for the president and
vice president must meet two conditions. One is the political
condition. The candidates must be citizens of the People's Republic
of China who have the right to vote and to stand for election. The
other is the condition on age. Candidates must have reached the age
of 45. In revising this condition first laid out in the
Constitution of 1954, the 1982 Constitution raised the age from 35
to 45, based on the consideration that the president whose job is
of great importance to the country must be politically mature, have
rich work experience, and enjoy high reputation. These requirements
are hard to meet unless the candidate has reached a certain
age.
Candidates for the president and vice president are proposed by the
NPC presidium for deliberation by all the deputies. Then the
presidium officially decides on the candidates, one for the
presidency and one for the vice presidency, for election through
voting by the NPC. As the political democratization process
continues, the single-candidate practice will gradually be replaced
by multi-candidate election.
The 1982 Constitution also stipulates that the power of dismissal
of the president and vice president rests with the NPC. In other
words, no organizations, political parties, social organizations or
individuals have the power to remove the president or the vice
president except the National People's Congress.
(China.org.cn May 20, 2003)