International News
Xi Jinping secures historic third term as China’s president
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday secured a historic third term in power, cementing his position as the nation’s most influential leader since founder Mao Zedong.
The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party elected Xi as its general secretary for another five-year term, Xinhua reported, tilting the country decisively back towards one-man rule after decades of power-sharing among its elite.
His anointment caps a week-long gathering of the Communist Party faithful in China’s capital during which high-ranking cadres endorsed his “core position” in the leadership and approved a sweeping reshuffle that saw several top officials step down. “I wish to thank the whole party sincerely for the trust you have placed in us,” Xi told journalists at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People after the closed-door vote was announced.
He promised to “work diligently in the performance of our duties to prove worthy of the great trust of our party and our people.”
Xi was also reappointed head of China’s Central Military Commission.
The 69-year-old is now all but certain to sail through to a third term as China’s president, due to be formally announced during the government’s annual legislative sessions in March.
Opening China to the world
After being re-elected as the general secretary of the CPC, Xi met with the press along with other newly-elected members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee including Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi.
In his address, Xi said that China will open its door wider to the rest of the world.
He added that they will also deepen reforms and “opening up across the board.”
