Chinese leader Xi Jinping was awarded an unprecedented third five-year term as President Friday, putting him on track to stay in power for life
BEIJING — Chinese leader Xi Jinping was awarded a third five-year term as president Friday, putting him on track to stay in power for life at a time of severe economic challenges and rising tensions with the U.S. and others.
In other voting, the party’s third-ranking official Zhao Leji was named head of the National People’s Congress. The vast majority of the body’s legislative work is headed by its Standing Committee, which meets year-round. Xi, Zhao and Han then took the oath of office with one hand on a copy of the Chinese constitution. The session also swore in 14 congress vice chairpersons.
Second-ranked Li Qiang is widely expected to take over as premier, nominally in charge of the Cabinet and caretaker of the economy. Li is best known for ruthlessly enforcing a brutal “zero-COVID” lockdown on Shanghai last spring as party boss of the Chinese financial hub, proving his loyalty to Xi in the face of complaints from residents over their lack of access to food, medical care and basic services.
At the opening of the annual congress session on Sunday, outgoing Premier Li Keqiang announced plans for a consumer-led revival of the struggling economy, setting this year’s growth target at “around 5%.” Last year’s growth in the world’s second-largest economy fell to 3%, the second-weakest level since at least the 1970s.
On Tuesday, Qin warned in unusually stark terms about the possibility of U.S.-China frictions leading to something more dire.
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