Xi Jinping elected as president of China for third time

BEIJING: Xi Jinping was handed a third term as Chinese president on Friday, capping a rise that has seen him become the country’s most powerful leader in generations.

The appointment by China’s parliament comes after Xi locked in another five years as head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in October.

Since then, the 69-year-old Xi has weathered widespread protests over his zero-COVID policy and the deaths of countless people after its abandonment.

Those issues have been avoided at this week’s National People’s Congress (NPC), a carefully choreographed event that is also set to appoint Xi ally Li Qiang as the new premier.

On Friday, delegates handed Xi a third term as China’s president and re-elected him as head of the country’s Central Military Commission in a unanimous vote.

Adrian Geiges, a co-author of “Xi Jinping: The Most Powerful Man in the World”, said he did not think Xi was motivated by a desire for personal enrichment, despite international media investigations having revealed his family’s amassed wealth.

“That’s not his interest,” Geiges said.

“He really has a vision about China, he wants to see China as the most powerful country in the world.”