Xi Jinping

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Xi Jinping
习近平
Xi in 2023
General Secretary of the Communist Party of China
Assumed office
15 November 2012
DeputyLi Keqiang (№ 2nd in PSC)
Preceded byHu Jintao
President of the People's Republic of China
Assumed office
14 March 2013
PremierLi Keqiang
Li Qiang
Vice PresidentLi Yuanchao
Wang Qishan
Han Zheng
Preceded byHu Jintao
Chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission
Assumed office
15 November 2012
DeputyFan Changlong
Xu Qiliang
Preceded byHu Jintao
Chairman of the PRC Central Military Commission
Assumed office
14 March 2013
DeputyFan Changlong
Xu Qiliang
Preceded byHu Jintao
First Secretary of the Central Secretariat of the Communist Party of China
In office
22 October 2007 – 15 November 2012
General SecretaryHu Jintao
Preceded byZeng Qinghong
Succeeded byLiu Yunshan
Vice President of the People's Republic of China
In office
15 March 2008 – 14 March 2013
PresidentHu Jintao
Preceded byZeng Qinghong
Succeeded byLi Yuanchao
President of the CPC Central Party School
In office
22 December 2007 – 15 January 2013
DeputyLi Jingtian
Preceded byZeng Qinghong
Succeeded byLiu Yunshan
Personal details
Born (1953-06-15) 15 June 1953 (age 70)
Beijing, China
Political partyCommunist Party
Spouse(s)
Peng Liyuan (m. 1987)
ChildrenMingze
ResidenceZhongnanhai, China
Alma materTsinghua University
This is a Chinese name; the family name is Xi.

Xi Jinping (/ʃ ɪnˈpɪŋ/; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who is currently the leader of the People's Republic of China.[1] As paramount leader, he holds the offices of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the President of the People's Republic of China,[2] and the Chairman of the Central Military Commission. As General Secretary, he is also a member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee, China's top decision-making body.[3]

Early life[change | change source]

Xi Jinping is the son of former Chinese Vice Premier Xi Zhongxun and Qi Xin. He rose politically in China's coastal provinces. He was the Governor of Fujian between 1999 and 2002. Between 2002 and 2007, he was Governor and CPC party chief of Zhejiang. After the dismissal of Chen Liangyu, Xi was transferred to Shanghai as the party secretary for a short time in 2007. Xi was promoted to the central leadership in October 2007 and trained to become Hu Jintao's successor.

General Secretary[change | change source]

In November 2012, he was elected as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and the Chairman of the Central Military Commission in the CPC convention. In March 2013, he was elected as the President of the People's Republic of China by the Chinese Congress. This started his first term as China's leader.

Chinese leadership changes every 5 years, and it happens roughly in October/November (for CPC and military) and March next year (for government). In October 2017 and March 2018, Xi was re-elected as party, military and government leader. This started his second term.

By tradition in recent decades, the Chinese leader leads two terms (10 years in total). The second term identifies his successor and prepares for the power transfer. However, Xi stopped this tradition and abandoned his potential successors Hu Chunhua and Sun Zhengcai.

On 11 March 2018, the National People's Congress approved an amendment to the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, so that Xi and the future presidents could be reelected for president without term limits.[4][5]

with Shinzō Abe in October 2018

In July 2018, a trade war started between the US and China. At the early stage Xi showed China's muscle by declaring to fight "a tooth for a tooth". As the conflicts continues to worsen, China softened its stance. There were reports that Xi's authority got damaged by his handling of the trade dispute with US.[6]

Personal life[change | change source]

Xi was born on 15 June 1953 in Beijing, China.[7] His father held lots of posts, including party propaganda chief and vice premier.[8] He has been married to Peng Liyuan since 1987. They have one daughter, Xi Mingze, who graduated from Harvard University in 2015. Xi lives in Zhongnanhai, China.

References[change | change source]

  1. "Dreams of a Red Emperor: The relentless rise of Xi Jinping". Los Angeles Times. 2020-10-22. Retrieved 2021-05-10.
  2. "deckblatt-ca-data sup-form.pdf" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
  3. "Xi Jinping calls for a Chinese dream, Daily Telegraph". Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  4. China's 'president for life': Congress votes on abolishing term limits, bbc.com, 11 March 2018
  5. ‘President for life’ Xi risks repeat of China’s Mao-era mistakes, South China Morning Post (online), 11 March 2018
  6. "Trump's Trade War Is Rattling China's Leaders". Retrieved 2018-10-05.
  7. Johnson, Ian (2012-11-15). "New Chinese Leader Offers Few Hints of a Shift in Direction". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-11-15.
  8. "Profile: Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 2020-07-15.

Other websites[change | change source]