BEIJING, Mar 18 (Xinhua): A Chinese president has for the first time taken a public oath of allegiance to the Constitution upon assuming office.
Newly elected Chinese President Xi Jinping took the solemn oath in Beijing last Saturday, pledging his allegiance to the Constitution of the People's Republic of China (PRC) to safeguard the Constitution's authority and fulfil his legal obligations.
Xi was elected Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the PRC at the ongoing first session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), the national legislature.
After a chorus of the national anthem was sung by all present, 64-year-old Xi, in a dark suit, took the podium, placed his left hand upon the Constitution, raised his right fist, and read the oath.
With the national emblem hung up high in an auditorium inside the Great Hall of the People, everybody stood and a hard copy of the Constitution was brought to the stage by honour guards as the ceremony started.
Last October, Xi was elected general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and appointed CMC chairman of the CPC at the first plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee.
The ceremony was held just six days after the national legislature added oaths of allegiance into the newly-amended Constitution last weekend.
The amendment also added Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as a guiding theory for China.
Based on a legislative decision passed by the top legislature in July 2015, China put the system into effect in January 2016, requiring all state functionaries to take a public oath of allegiance to the Constitution when assuming office.
The PRC enacted its first Constitution in 1954. The current Constitution was adopted in 1982 and amended in 1988, 1993, 1999, 2004 and 2018.
