Xi Jinping

General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and paramount leader of China since 2012
This is a Chinese name; the family name is Xi.

Xi Jinping (/ʃ ɪnˈpɪŋ/; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the 9th General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and the 13th Chairman of the Central Military Commission since 2012, and as well as the 7th President of China since 2013.[1] As General Secretary, he is also a member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee, China's top decision-making body.[2] Xi is the first CCP general secretary born after the establishment of the People's Republic of China.[3][4]


Xi Jinping
习近平
Xi in July 2024
9th General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party
Assumed office
15 November 2012
Preceded byHu Jintao
7th President of China
Assumed office
14 March 2013
Premier
See list
Vice President
See list
Preceded byHu Jintao
6th and 13th Chairman of the Central Military Commission[a]
Assumed office
  • Party Commission: 15 November 2012
  • State Commission: 14 March 2013
Deputy
Preceded byHu Jintao
7th First-ranked Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party
In office
22 October 2007 – 15 November 2012
General SecretaryHu Jintao
Preceded byZeng Qinghong
Succeeded byLiu Yunshan
8th Vice President of China
In office
15 March 2008 – 14 March 2013
PresidentHu Jintao
Preceded byZeng Qinghong
Succeeded byLi Yuanchao
Personal details
Born (1953-06-15) 15 June 1953 (age 71)
Beijing, China
Political partyCCP (since 1974)
Spouse(s)
(m. 1979; div. 1982)
(m. 1987)
Parents
ResidenceZhongnanhai
Alma materTsinghua University
OccupationPolitician
Signature

Early life

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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

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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 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.[5][6]

 
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.[7]

In October 2022, Xi was re-elected to a third term. This re-election made him the first party leader since Mao Zedong to be chosen for a third term, though Deng Xiaoping ruled the country informally for a longer time.[8]

Personal life

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Xi was born on 15 June 1953 in Beijing, China.[9] His father held lots of posts, including party propaganda chief and vice premier.[10] 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.

  1. 13th Chairman of the Party Commission and 6th Chairman of the State Commission.

References

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  1. "Dreams of a Red Emperor: The relentless rise of Xi Jinping". Los Angeles Times. 2020-10-22. Retrieved 2021-05-10.
  2. "Xi Jinping calls for a Chinese dream, Daily Telegraph". Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  3. "XI Jinping Wants to Become the New Mao". Cato.org. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  4. "Born Red". The New Yorker. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  5. China's 'president for life': Congress votes on abolishing term limits, bbc.com, 11 March 2018
  6. ‘President for life’ Xi risks repeat of China’s Mao-era mistakes, South China Morning Post (online), 11 March 2018
  7. "Trump's Trade War Is Rattling China's Leaders". Retrieved 2018-10-05.
  8. Wingfield-Hayes, Rupert (23 October 2022). "Xi Jinping's party is just getting started". BBC News. Archived from the original on 17 March 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  9. Johnson, Ian (2012-11-15). "New Chinese Leader Offers Few Hints of a Shift in Direction". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-11-15.
  10. "Profile: Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 2020-07-15.

Other websites

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