The Chinese Parliament has reappointed the head of state for a five-year term, after a vote without suspense, Friday, March 10. Confirmation of his third term as president had been widely expected.
In the Chinese system of governance, the functions of the president are largely ceremonial. Mr Xi’s power comes from him being General Secretary of the Communist Party and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC).
He was handed both posts at a party congress last October.
The naming of a new premier and various ministers in the coming days is considered more important.
The new appointees are mostly expected to be Xi Jinping loyalists. This includes Li Qiang, who is tipped to serve as Mr Xi’s number two.
On Friday, Mr Xi has also gained another term as the chairman of the CMC of the People’s Republic of China. There are two CMCs in the country – one is a party organisation while another is a state institution – but their make-up is usually the same.
Mr Xi has solidified his rule as China reopens from his bruising zero-Covid policy that has fuelled anti-government protests. The country is also facing a falling birth rate that threatens its economic growth engine.
Ties between Beijing and Washington remain testy, recently highlighted by allegations China had been spying on the US with balloons.
“Whether a strengthened Xi and increasing centralisation is sufficient to overcome these problems – or perhaps make them worse – is unknown and perhaps not knowable at present,” Ian Chong, a political scientist at the National University Singapore, told the BBC.
“In a sense, Xi is betting that centralisation under the party with him at the helm is a solution to these disparate issues,” he said.
