Xi Jinping will reign over China for at least the next five years after he was handed a historic third five-year term as Chinese president. Mr Xi was unanimously elected as president for a third term on Friday in what was seen as a rubber-stamp vote at the National People’s Congress (NPC). The nearly 3,000 members of the NPC – China’s largely ceremonial parliament – voted for President Xi, with no one voting against him.
The move comes after the Chinese president was voted in as the head of the Communist Party and the military in October last year.
Since Mao Zedong’s brutal regime, leaders in China had been limited to two terms in office.
The control of power had also been limited to collective decision-making.
However, Mr Xi ripped up this rulebook and overhauled the constitution in 2018 with laws that could let him rule for life.
President Xi will make a speech on Monday to mark the final day of the annual parliamentary session.
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The 69-year-old is expected to reward loyalists with appointments of a new premier and other ministers in the coming days.
This includes Li Qiang, who is expected to be named as premier – China’s number two political position.
Mr Li, who will hold a press conference, would be in charge of managing the world’s second-largest economy.
The country is still reeling from the economic and human impact of its hardline zero-Covid policy, which was only abandoned three months ago.
President Xi also has to contend with a tense relationship with the US over issues including trade, and China’s assertive claims on Taiwan and the South China Sea.
Ties between Beijing and Washington recently flared up amid allegations China had been spying on the US with balloons.
Ian Chong, from the National University Singapore, told the BBC: “Whether a strengthened Xi and increasing centralisation is sufficient to overcome these problems – or perhaps make them worse – is unknown and perhaps not knowable at present.
“In a sense, Xi is betting that centralisation under the party with him at the helm is a solution to these disparate issues.”
Adrian Geiges, co-author of ‘Xi Jinping: The Most Powerful Man in the World’, told the AFP: “Xi really has a vision about China, he wants to see China as the most powerful country in the world.”
