Beijing: Xi Jinping was handed a third term as Chinese president on Friday, capping a rise that has seen him become the country’s most powerful leader in generations. The appointment by China’s rubber-stamp parliament comes after Xi locked in another five years as head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in October.
Since then, the 69-year-old Xi has weathered widespread protests over his zero-Covid policy and the deaths of countless people after its abandonment.
Those issues have been avoided at this week’s National People’s Congress (NPC), a carefully choreographed event that is also set to appoint Xi ally Li Qiang as the new premier.
On Friday, delegates handed Xi a third term as China’s president and re-elected him as head of the country’s Central Military Commission in a unanimous vote.
Xi’s re-election is the culmination of a remarkable rise in which he has gone from a relatively little-known party apparatchik to the leader of a rising global power.
His coronation sets him up to become communist China’s longest-serving president, and means Xi could rule well into his seventies — if no challenger emerges.
Delegates are set to approve China’s new premier on Saturday.
Xi is scheduled to speak at the parliamentary meeting’s closing ceremony on Monday. The new premier is set to speak with the press later that day.
Han Zheng, previously executive vice premier, on Friday formally became vice president. Wang Qishan previously held the role.
Delegates on Friday approved a proposal to restructure the State Council, the Chinese government’s top executive body.
A draft of the plan was released earlier this week, and comes as the ruling Communist Party of China is expected to significantly increase its direct control of the government.
