Xi Jinping secured a record-breaking third five-year presidential term during a parliamentary session on Friday, March 10th, during which he further tightened his control as China faces mounting challenges.
Xi Jinping was officially endorsed by the country's political elite and is the longest-serving head of state of Communist China since its founding in 1949.
Nearly 3,000 members of China's parliament, the National People's Congress (NPC), voted unanimously in the Great Hall of the People for the 69-year-old Xi in an election.
Xi has led China in a more authoritarian direction since assuming control a decade ago, and with Friday's vote extends his tenure for another 5 years.
China's presidency is largely ceremonial, and Xi's main position of power was extended last October when he was reconfirmed for five more years as general secretary of the central committee of the Communist Party.
Li Qiang, who will soon be certified as China's No. 2 leader, was seated to Xi's left for the voting on Friday and they engaged in casual conversation. See Photo above.
The annual legislative session, the first since China lifted three years of COVID restrictions, will come to an end on Monday with a speech by Xi and a question-and-answer session with the media led by Li.
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