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 on Sunday, voting 2,958 in favour with two opposed, three abstaining and one vote invalidated.

The move reverses the era of 'collective' leadership and orderly succession that was promoted by form Deng Xiaoping to ensure stability following the turbulent one-man rule of Communist China's founder Mao Zedong.

Delegates of the National People's Congress applauded after each vote on the constitutional amendment to lift the limit of two five-year terms for the presidency.

China's rubber-stamp lawmakers have passed a historic constitutional amendment that abolishes term limits and will enable President Xi Jinping (pictured) to rule indefinitely

The slide toward 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.

Xi, 64, stood up first at the imposing Great Hall of the People in Beijing to cast his paper ballot in a red box.

The first constitutional amendment in 14 years had been expected to breeze through the legislature, which has never rejected a Communist Party diktat in its half-century of existence.

The presidency is a largely ceremonial office, but the constitutional limits meant Xi would have had to give it up in 2023.

'This is the urgent wish of the common people,' Ju Xiuqin, a delegate from northeastern Heilongjiang province, said, echoing party claims that the amendment had the unanimous support of 'the masses'.

The parliament also approved the addition of Xi's guiding political philosophy - Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era - into the nation's constitution.

Xi stood up first at the imposing Great Hall of the People in Beijing to cast his paper ballot in a red box (left), while delegates applauded after every vote

Mao and Deng are the only other leaders to have their names alongside their guidelines in the constitution, while Xi Jinping Thought was added to the party's constitution last year.

Xi has consolidated power since 2012 when he was appointed to the country's top office: general secretary of the Communist Party.

While the position has no term limits, his two predecessors both gave it up after two terms as part of an orderly process established by Deng.

But with the new amendments, Xi could now have a lifetime to push his goal of turning China into global economic powerhouse with a 'world-class' military by mid-century.

His rise has been accompanied by tighter restrictions on civil society, with the detention of activists and lawyers, and stricter limits on the already heavily controlled internet.

The National People's Congress endorsed the constitutional amendment on Sunday, voting 2,958 in favour with two opposed, three abstaining and one vote invalidated

At the same time, he gained a measure of popularity among Chinese people through a relentless crackdown on corruption that has punished more than a million party officials, and sidelined potential rivals.

'I think that during the past five years, he has been carrying out a soft coup, including making the Politburo a mere figurehead,' Chinese political commentator Wu Qiang said, referring to the 25-member Communist Party body one level under the ruling council.

'He wants to prevent power from falling into the hands of technocrats like Jiang (Zemin) and Hu (Jintao),' Wu said, referring to Xi's two predecessors.

While attention has focused on the term limits, the amendments also include major provisions that will engrave Xi's eponymous political mantra in the constitution and hand the Communist Party an even larger role in the country's affairs.

Military delegates arrive for a vote on constitutional amendments at the National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing

Delegates in ethnic minority costumes arrive for the National People's Congress where the constitutional amendments were ratified

Xi Jinping becomes the most powerful man since Chairman Mao The vote makes Xi Jinping China’s most powerful ruler since Mao Zedong. It also undoes the system of ‘collective leadership’ introduced to avoid a repeat of Chairman Mao’s long and bloody reign. The founding father of the People’s Republic of China, Mao ruled from when he seized power in 1949 to his death in 1976. He introduced dramatic and disastrous reforms as he established his own brand of Communism. The Great Leap Forward – a mass mobilisation of labour to improve production – resulted in famine and the deaths of millions. In 1966 Mao launched the Cultural Revolution to purge the country of opponents. It crippled the economy and thrust China into ten years of turmoil, bloodshed and hunger. It also saw the imprisonment of a huge number of citizens. His final years saw attempts to build bridges with the US, Japan and Europe, but his reputation could never be restored. Such was Mao’s devastating impact that in 1982 a law was passed limiting presidents to two terms. Its reversal yesterday will raise fears of a return to the horrors of Mao’s reign. Advertisement

The Communist Party says the move merely aligns the presidency with the limit-free titles of party secretary and military chief, claiming 'the masses' unanimously called for the removal of term limits.

But the proposal was kept secret until it was revealed in a state media report on February 25, a week before the legislature's opening session.

The party later disclosed that Xi had presided over a meeting of the Politburo in September during which the leadership decided to revise the constitution.

The party then sought proposals and opinions, culminating in a decision in late January to introduce constitutional amendments at the NPC.

'Xi Jinping has presided over so many important projects such as economic reforms and the fight against corruption. There was a consensus that we supported him having more time to finish his work,' said Dou Yanli, a delegate from eastern Shandong province.

Delegates arrive for the National People's Congress to vote on the amendments, which were revealed in a state media report last month

The surprise move triggered a backlash online, prompting censors to block phrases and words such as 'I disagree' and 'emperor' and the image of Winnie the Pooh, the cartoon bear to which Xi has been compared.

Activists fear that removing term limits may lead to a further tightening of already strict controls on media, civil society and religion, as Xi tries to impose his highly ideological vision of socialism on every aspect of society.

Beijing-based activist Hu Jia, who says authorities forced him to leave the capital during the congress, called the amendment 'illegal'.

'Xi asked all people to obey the constitution, and then used the amendment to place himself above it. He used the constitution as the ultimate legal weapon that binds officials and all citizens.'

Xi is the first Chinese leader to have been born after 1949, when Mao's Communist forces took over following a protracted civil war.

The purging of his father led to years of difficulties for the family, but he nevertheless rose through its ranks.

Chinese President Xi Jinping talks to Chinese Politburo Standing Committee member Li Zhanshu while holding his ballot

Xi Jinping, pictured drinking beer with David Cameron in 2015 (left) and meeting Donald Trump at a G20 summit in Germany last year (right), has consolidated power since 2012

Beginning as a county-level party secretary in 1969, Xi climbed to the governorship of coastal Fujian province in 1999, then party chief of Zhejiang province in 2002 and eventually Shanghai in 2007.

That same year, he was appointed to the Politburo Standing Committee.

Following Mao's disastrous economic campaigns and the bloody 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, the Communist leadership sought to prevent further chaos by tempering presidential power through a system in which major personnel and policy decisions were hashed out by the ruling Politburo Standing Committee.

The move helped prevent political power from becoming too concentrated in the hands of a single leader but was also blamed for policy indecision that led to growing ills such as worsening pollution, corruption and social unrest.

The parliament also approved the addition of Xi Jinping Thought into the nation's constitution, after it was approved at a party congress last year (pictured)

But 'Xi Dada' ('Big Uncle Xi'), as he has been dubbed by Communist propaganda, has broken sharply with that tradition since taking over as president in 2013 and now looms over the country in a deepening cult of personality.

Xi was named party secretary general and chairman of the party commission overseeing the military in 2012.

Over the subsequent months he added the titles of president and head of the government commissions overseeing the military.

In 1987 he married Peng Liyuan, a singer with the People's Liberation Arts troupe who was a familiar face to television audiences for her soulful renderings of patriotic folk songs.