China passes constitutional amendment ending term limits

China's rubber-stamp lawmakers passed a historic constitutional amendment abolishing presidential term limits that will enable President Xi Jinping to rule indefinitely.

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 constitution had until now limited presidents to serving only two consecutive terms.