This is a list of heads of state of the Republic of China: Current office holders Historical office holders Military Governments (1911) Beginning with the Wuchang Uprising on 11 October 1911 and in the following two months, provincial military governments declared their independence from the Qing Empire under the name "Republic of China." On 30 November 1911, the "Central Military Government of the Republic of China" was established under the leadership of Li Yuanhong. Provisional Government of the Republic of China (Nanjing, 1912; Beijing, 1912–1913) Provisional President of the Republic of China (臨時大總統): Sun Yat-sen (1 January 1912 - 10 March 1912) Yuan Shikai (10 March 1912 - 10 October 1913) The "Republic of China" was formally proclaimed on 1 January 1912 and Sun Yat-sen took office in Nanking (now Nanjing) as the first provisional president. Sun resigned on March 10 and was succeeded by Qing Empire Prime Minister Yuan Shikai. This moved the government to Beijing. Government of the Republic of China (Beijing, 1913–1928) Yuan Shikai enacted a new Constitution to greatly expand his powers as president and abolish the National Assembly. Sun Yat-sen and his supporters responded with the failed Second Revolution and were subsequently exiled. The later ROC governments under the KMT (and the current People's Republic of China government) considers the Beiyang Government after this point to be illegitimate. Yuan Shikai (10 October 1913 - 22 December 1915) Yuan Shikai declared himself Emperor on 22 December 1915. Popular opposition led Yuan to retract his declaration on 22 March 1916. Yuan Shikai (22 March 1916 - 6 June 1916) Li Yuanhong (7 June 1916 - 1 July 1917) Yuan died in 1916 and was succeeded by Vice President Li Yuan-hung. Warlord Zhang Xun restored Puyi to the throne for twelve days from July 1 to 12 July 1917. The Republican government was soon restored, but local warlords forced Li from office. Li Yuanhong (12 July 1917 - 17 July 1917) Feng Guozhang (17 July 1917 - 10 October 1918) Xu Shichang (10 October 1918 - 2 June 1922) Zhou Ziqi (2 Jun 1922 - 11 Jun 1922) (acting) Li Yuanhong (11 June 1922 - 13 June 1923) Zhang Shaozeng (13 Jun 1923 - 9 Sep 1923) (acting) Gao Lingwei (9 Sep 1923 - 10 Oct 1923) (acting) Cao Kun (10 October 1923 - 2 November 1924) Huang Fu (2 Nov 1924 - 24 Nov 1924) (acting) Duan