Xi Jinping has won his third term in China and continues to exercise his iron control over the country’s politics

The Chinese regime of Xi Jinping consolidated its power on Friday after the National People’s Congress (ANP) it designates for a third party five-year term (2023-2028) unprecedented among its predecessors.

The plenary session of the PNA ratified the permanence of Xi, also secretary general of the sovereign Communist Party (CCP), after the body approved in 2018 a constitutional amendment What removed the limit of two consecutive terms five years for Chinese presidents.

The result of the deputies’ vote, announced shortly before 11 a.m. local time, was final: 2,952 votes for, zero against and no abstentions.

This was not an unexpected result given that Parliament is in practice subject to the Communist Party (PCC), who re-elected him in October for another five years as Secretary General and Chief of the Army, the two most powerful posts in the country.

The last few months have been difficult for the Chinese regime, after the large demonstrations at the end of November against its policy of “Covid zero” and an wave of deaths following the abandonment of this strategy in December.

These topics, unsurprisingly, were avoided during the annual session of Parliament, a carefully choreographed event in which Li Qiangan ally of Xi, will have to replace as Prime Minister Li Keqiang.

There National People’s Congress (NPC) meeting in Beijing must also formally choose a new vice president to replace Wang Qishan.

The annual session of the APN was also conducive to the announcement of a growth target modest “around 5%” in 2023 and a increase in the military budget.

The official re-election of Xi Jinping as head of state heralds the rise of a once-unpublic policymaker who has become China’s most powerful leader in decades.

For decades, the People’s Republic of China, plagued by political chaos and a cult of personality under the rule of its leader and founder Mao Zedong (1949-1976), promoted a more collegial system of government in the upper echelons of power.

According to this model, Xi’s predecessors (Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao) left the presidency after ten years in power.

But Xi put an end to this rule by abolishing in 2018 the constitutional limit two presidential terms, while nurturing a nascent personality cult.

Xi Jinping he will thus become the leader with most years in power in Asian giant’s recent history.

He could even aspire to another five years as president if no credible successor emerges during that time.

But the world’s second largest economy finds itself with many challenges to come: slowdown in growth, birth dropdifficulties in the real estate sector or an iinternational ballast image.

Relations with the United States are at their lowest in decades, with multiple disputes ranging from Taiwan’s status to the treatment of the Uyghur Muslim minority and technological rivalry.

Xi this week denounced the “policy of containment, encirclement and repression against China” carried out by “Western countries led by the United States” which “has posed unprecedented serious challenges to the development” of the country.

(With information from EFE and AFP)

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