In the 1982 Constitution, the president was conceived of as a figurehead of state with actual state power resting in the hands of the General Secretary of the Communist Party, premier of the State Council and the chairman of the Central Military Commission, and all four posts were designed to be held by separate people. The president therefore held minor responsibilities such as greeting foreign dignitaries and signing the appointment of embassy staff, and did not intervene in the affairs of the State Council or the party.