Xi Jinping was handed a third term as Chinese president on Friday, capping a rise that has made him the country’s most powerful leader in generations. His appointment by China’s rubber‑stamp parliament follows his securing another five years as head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in October. Since then, the 69‑year‑old has weathered widespread protests over his zero‑Covid policy and the deaths that followed its abandonment, but those issues were absent from this week’s National People’s Congress (NPC)—a carefully choreographed event that will also appoint Xi ally Li Qiang as the new premier.
During the ceremony, delegates handed Xi a third term as president and re‑appointed him head of the Central Military Commission in a unanimous vote. Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, a cavernous state building on the edge of Tiananmen Square, was adorned with crimson carpets and banners, while a military band provided background music. A digital monitor on the stage displayed the final tally— all 2,952 votes cast in favour of giving Xi another term. The announcement was followed by delegates’ fervent declarations of allegiance to the Chinese constitution, a demonstration of loyalty and unanimity. Xi raised his right fist and placed his left hand on a red, leather‑bound copy of the constitution, and in an oath broadcast live on state television he vowed to “build a prosperous, strong, democratic, civilised, harmonious and great modern socialist country.”
China’s close ally Russia swiftly offered “sincere congratulations” on Xi’s re‑election. President Vladimir Putin wrote to his “dear friend” Xi, saying Russia “highly values your personal contribution toward the strengthening of ties… and strategic cooperation between our nations.”
Xi’s re‑election marks the culmination of a remarkable ascent from a little‑known party apparatchik to the leader of a rising global power. The coronation positions him to become communist China’s longest‑serving president and could allow him to rule well into his seventies if no challenger emerges. His bold ambitions have translated into a domineering leadership style, reinforced by loyalists who have risen to top government positions during his decade at the helm. Having taken power when the CCP’s sway seemed to be wavering, he has worked hard to reverse trends that threatened to weaken its centrality to Chinese society. “The relentless Xi Jinping agenda of asserting party control over everything that moves is alive and well,” former Australian prime minister and China expert Kevin Rudd said at a recent Asia Society forum. “They’ve got two sets of really conflicting tensions: how to re‑energise growth in the economy, and how to maintain ideological control over the private sector.”
For decades, China—scarred by the dictatorial reign and cult of personality of founding leader Mao Zedong—eschewed one‑man rule in favour of a more consensus‑based, though still autocratic, leadership. That model imposed term limits on the presidency, with predecessors Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao relinquishing power after ten years. Xi tore up that rule book, abolishing term limits in 2018 and fostering a cult of personality that underpins his all‑powerful leadership. His unprecedented third term begins as the world’s second‑largest economy faces major headwinds: slowing growth, a troubled real‑estate sector, and a declining birth rate. To confront these challenges, Beijing needs structural reforms, but “that can’t happen without political change. The NPC confirms that there is no change,” J Capital Research co‑founder and Chinese‑economy expert Anne Stevenson‑Yang told AFP.
Relations with the United States are at a low not seen in decades, with the powers sparring over human rights, trade and technology. “We will see a China more assertive on the global stage, insisting its narrative be accepted,” SOAS China Institute director Steve Tsang told AFP. “But it is also one that will focus domestically on making itself less dependent on the rest of the world, and making the Communist Party the centrepiece of governance, rather than the Chinese government.” He added, “It is not a return to the Maoist era, but one that Maoists will feel comfortable in… not a direction of travel that is good for the rest of the world.”
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