China to scrap cap on presidential, vice presidential terms today

Chinese President Xi Jinping will continue his presidential term indefinitely 'for life' after the Communist Party of China announced on Sunday the revolutionary change in their system of governance.

On Monday, the National People's Congress, the world's largest parliamentary body with more than 2,900 members, will vote to abolish the existing cap of two presidential terms and effectively allow Xi to remain in office for the rest of his life.

According to Xinhua, Xi called the system of multiparty cooperation and political consultation led by the Communist Party of China (CPC) "a great contribution to political civilization of humanity".

Xi also added that the new system unites all political parties and people without party affiliation toward a common goal, effectively preventing the flaws of the absence of oversight in one-party rule, or power rotation and nasty competition among multiple political parties.

However, this move has invited a lot of criticism both inside and outside China, with proponents of liberalisation of politics in the world's second-largest economy seeing it as a move by Jinping to strengthen his position of power, like Vladimir Putin in Russia. It is also seen by the liberal activists as a reversion to the era of former Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong, whose rule led China into famine, chaos and ultimately political stagnation.