IRIA News

Chinese President Xi Jinping emerged as the country’s most powerful leader after securing a historic third term as the general secretary of China’s Communist Party at the major party congress in Beijing.

The 20th Chinese Communist Party Congress approved a new Central Committee of around 200 senior party officials in China, who then gathered on October 23 to elect Xi and the other members of the Standing Committee.

More than 2,300 delegates from around the country attended the weeklong event in Beijing which happens once every five years to decide key policies in the coming years and reshuffle the country’s top officials.

The party also announced the country’s next Politburo Standing Committee also known as China’s most powerful decision-making body. In addition to Xi Jinping, the six men selected as s of the Politburo Standing Committee include Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Li Xi, and Ding Xuexiang. All six are considered close associates of Xi. 

Li Qiang, the party chief of Shanghai, has been elevated to the No. 2 position on the seven-man Standing Committee. Experts believe that Li Qiang is on track to become China’s next premier when parliament meets in March and Premier Li Keqiang retires.

Xi and the other Standing Committee members appeared for the first time before reporters on Sunday at the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing. Xi thanked the whole party for the trust in the team and promised to “work diligently in the performance of our duties to prove worthy of the great trust of our Party and our people.”

“The world needs China,” said Jinping as he spoke to the press. “China cannot develop without the world, and the world also needs China,” Xi said. “After more than 40 years of unflagging efforts towards reform and opening up, we have created two miracles — rapid economic development and long-term social stability.”

National security and technological power

In his speech during the party congress, China’s 69-year-old leader Xi Jinping vowed to bolster national security and transform China into a technological great power. He shared his vision of the future of China and the blueprint of the governance model and development strategies.

Referring to the future activities of the party, Xi said that “the central task of the CPC will be to lead the Chinese people of all ethnic groups in a concerted effort to realize the second centenary goal of building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects and to advance the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization.”

Xi also called for improving China’s capacity for scientific and technological innovation to promote high-quality development, achieve greater self-reliance and build a modernized economy. “We must give high priority to the development of education, build China’s self-reliance and strength in science and technology, and rely on talent to pioneer and propel development. We will speed up work to build a strong educational system, greater scientific and technological strength, and a quality workforce”, Xi said. Some of the industries in focus included artificial intelligence, biotechnology, new energy, new materials, high-end equipment, and the green industry.

Sharing the party’s viewpoint on strengthening the military, Xi said in his speech that China has carried out bold reforms of national defense and the armed forces, restructuring the military leadership and command systems. “We have moved faster to modernize our national defense and the armed forces and reduced the number of active service personnel by 300,000,” he said. “With new systems, a new structure, a new configuration, and a new look, the people’s armed forces have become a much more modern and capable fighting force.”

Allies congratulate China

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Chinese President Xi Jinping on securing the third consecutive term and said he looked forward to further developing a “comprehensive partnership” between their two countries. “The results of the Party Congress fully confirm your high political authority, as well as the unity of the party you lead,” Putin told Xi, according to the Kremlin. Moscow considers Beijing a key geopolitical and economic partner in the face of Western sanctions after the invasion of Ukraine.

Qatar’s Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyevalso sent congratulatory messages to Chinese President Xi Jinping on securing an unprecedented third term.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent a congratulatory letter to Xi Jinping, saying he hoped to further develop their ties.