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Chinese President Xi Jinping is now considered to be the most powerful leader since Mao Zedong.

By EDWARD WONG and XINRAN HUANG

The constitutional amendment in China that abandoned the two-term presidential limit has received  a backlash from Chinese social media users, who have reported having their accounts blocked for posting content that criticised the government.

Free Weibo, a website that offers censor-free content for Weibo users (the top social media site in China), has reported that some of the top blocked search terms two days after Xi’s re-election were: “to ascend the throne”, “amend the constitution” and "Chairman of the Nation”.

Weibo user Chen Yaya had her account blocked without an explanation from the popular microblogging website’s customer service.

Ms Yaya said she strongly opposed the current censorship of information and was left shaken by the ordeal.

“Freedom of speech is very important to our country and the whole world,” Ms Yaya said.

Ms Yaya waited two days until her account was suddenly unblocked.

“After this I still refuse to remain silent on this issue, but I will tone down my words so that I don’t get blocked again,” she said.

“This no-discussion situation we’re having now is just not right

Monash University Lecturer of Chinese Studies Dr Jonathan Benney said the decision showed the Chinese government had a long way to go before freedom of speech was high priority.

“I don’t think that the freedom of speech is going to happen in China anytime soon, but we cannot dismiss it as being irrelevant,” Dr Benney said.

“There isn’t enough political debate from within the government itself and with Xi strengthening his power and leadership, there’s likely to be less debate.”

The New York Times has previously reported that images of Winnie-the-Pooh were censored after  online memes compared President Xi Jinping to the cartoon bear.

Other terms such as "my emperor", "lifelong" and "shameless" that have been considered to be potentially defamatory towards the president have been removed from China's search engines.

In 2017, a man was reportedly jailed for two years in China after referring to the president as “Steamed Bun Xi” in a private group message.

Dr Benney said the censorship of information made it difficult to take the temperature of the current administration.

“In China, censorship will promote social stability in the sense that open debate creates political instability,” Dr Benney said.

“The promotion of positive news about China does lead the Chinese to believe their country Is doing the right thing, but it’s difficult to measure this given that many who are questioned about China’s stability are aware they are being monitored.”