China installs LIFELONG leader: Xi Jinping to be all-powerful president FOREVER

China’s ruling Communist Party first suggested the amendment last month but there was little chance of it failing as the parliament is overwhelmingly run by its members.

At the vote, just two people out of 3,000 delegates voted against the move.

Xi cast his vote first, followed by the other six members of the party’s elite Standing Committee, which runs China.

Loud applause followed when the result was revealed, though Xi did not address parliament.

The limit of two five-year terms was written into China’s constitution in 1982, six years after Mao’s death, when collective leadership was promoted.

But Shen Chunyao, chairman of the Legislative Affairs Commission, dismissed concerns that this reversal could risk the return of the cult of personality or lead to political infighting.

“In the nearly 40 years of reform and opening up, we have successfully established, upheld and expanded the political development road of socialism with Chinese characteristics,” Shen said.

“So, going forward the road we are on will definitely be longer and wider, and the future brighter and brighter.”

Xi, 64, began consolidating power after becoming head of the Community party in late 2012.

He began his second term as party chief last October and will be formally appointed by parliament to his second term as president later this week.

The government said lifting term limits was a means to protect the authority of the party with Xi at its centre, while the party’s official newspaper, People’s Daily, has said the constitution changes do not mean life-long terms.

Despite his role as Chinese president, Xi’s positions as head of the party and head of the military are seen to be more important. None of the roles now have a formal term limit.