How Africa News
On Friday, March 10, Xi Jinping achieved a record-breaking third five-year presidential term after a parliamentary session in which he tightened his grip as China faces rising domestic and global problems.
On Friday, Xi Jinping was officially recognized by the country’s political elite, consolidating his power and making him the Communist China’s longest-serving head of state since the country’s creation in 1949.
In an election with no other candidates, over 3,000 members of China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress (NPC), voted unanimously in the Great Hall of the People for the 69-year-old Xi.
Since taking power a decade ago, Xi has pushed China in a more authoritarian direction, and Friday’s vote extended his stay for another five years amid increasingly strained relations with the US and the West over Taiwan, Beijing’s support for Russia, trade, and human rights.
With the repeal of presidential term limits in 2018, Xi has become China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, who founded the People’s Republic.
China’s president is primarily ceremonial, and Xi’s principal position of authority was extended last October when he was re-confirmed as general secretary of the Communist Party’s central committee for another five years.
During the voting on Friday, Xi casually talked with Premier-in-waiting Li Qiang, who was sat to his left and is set to be confirmed as China’s No. 2 on Saturday.
The annual legislative session, the first since China lifted COVID restrictions after three years, will conclude on Monday with a speech by Xi, followed by a media question-and-answer session with Li.
