Xi Jinping begins historic third term …as China’s president

 China’s leader, Xi Jinping, has secured a historic third term as president from the country’s rubber-stamp Parliament.

It follows a consolidation of power that has made Mr Jinping, 69, China’s most dominant leader in generations.

In the Chinese system of governance, the functions of the president are largely ceremonial.

Mr Jinping’s power comes from him being General Secretary of the Communist Party and Chair­man of the Central Military Com­mission (CMC). He was handed both posts at a party congress last October.

Confirmation of his third term as president had been widely expected. The naming of a new premier and various ministers in the coming days is considered more important.

The new appointees are mostly expected to be Mr Jinping loyal­ists. This includes Li Qiang, who is tipped to serve as Mr Jinping’s number two.

On Friday, Mr Jinping also gained another term as the chair­man of the CMC of the People’s Republic of China. There are two CMCs in the country – one is a party organisation while another is a state institution – but their make-up is usually the same.

Mr Jinping has solidified his rule as China reopens from his bruising zero-COVID policy that has fuelled anti-government protests. The country is also facing a falling birth rate that threatens its economic growth engine.

Ties between Beijing and Washington remain testy, recently highlighted by allegations China had been spying on the US with balloons.

“Whether a strengthened Jinping and increasing centralisation is sufficient to overcome these problems – or perhaps make them worse – is unknown and perhaps not knowable at present,” Ian Chong, a political scientist at the National University of Singapore, told the BBC.

“In a sense, Mr Jinping is betting that centralisation under the party with him at the helm is a solution to these disparate issues,” he said.

The so-called Two Sessions of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) this week is closely watched as it provides a glimpse into China’s direction in the coming years.

—BBC