The Latest: China lawmakers abolish presidential term limits

March 11, 2018 at 4:00 a.m. | Updated March 11, 2018 at 4:15 a.m.

by Associated Press

A staff member stands in front of a ballot box on the rostrum before a plenary session of China's National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Sunday, March 11, 2018. China's top legislative body is expected to approve an amendment too China's constitution on Sunday that will abolish term limits on the presidency and enable Chinese President Xi Jinping to rule indefinitely. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
A staff member stands in front of a ballot box on the rostrum before a plenary session of China's National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Sunday, March 11, 2018. China's top legislative body is expected to approve an amendment too China's constitution on Sunday that will abolish term limits on the presidency and enable Chinese President Xi Jinping to rule indefinitely. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

BEIJING (AP) - The Latest on China's lawmakers amending constitution to abolish term limits (all times local):

3:55 p.m.

China's rubber-stamp lawmakers 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 Sunday, voting 2,958 in favor 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 slide toward one-man rule under Xi has fueled concern that Beijing is eroding efforts to guard against the excesses of autocratic leadership and make economic regulation more stable and predictable.

Upcoming Events