In power since 2013, Xi Jinping was unsurprisingly re-elected for a second time to the presidency of China on Friday (10) with a unanimous vote by deputies. It will be the first time that a Chinese president will have a third term in the country. The government is trying to show the image of a united and strong China at a time when the country is facing increasing tension against the United States.

In power since 2013, Xi Jinping was unsurprisingly reelected for the second time to the presidency of China on Friday (10) with a unanimous vote by deputies. It will be the first time a Chinese president will have a third term in the country,

The image is powerful. Xi Jinping in front of the Great Hall of the People is applauded for long minutes after being elected by 2,952 votes of the deputies. The vote for his third term was unopposed, and there were no abstentions. After ten years in office, the Chinese leader has eliminated his rivals.

Broadcast on Chinese public television, Friday’s vote ratifies the decision taken during the 20th Chinese Communist Party Congress last October and has strong political significance.

The Communist elite and military chiefs are united behind Xi Jinping, who will have for the next five years major economic and international challenges to face.

Economic slowdown and international image

The world’s second largest economy suffers from slowing growth and difficulties in the real estate sector. The Chinese leader needs to solve this while still having to deal with a falling birth rate and a degraded international image of the country in the West.

Relations with the United States are at their worst in decades, with several points of contention, from Taiwan to the treatment of Uighur Muslims, not to mention spy balloons, rivalry in technology, and the issue of chip production.

Xi Jinping this week condemned the “policy of containment, encirclement and repression against China” implemented by “Western countries led by the United States” that has “led to unprecedented challenges to the development” of the country.

New dynasty

With no opposition and no room for criticism, the Chinese leader’s new term in office is celebrated in the official Chinese media as a return to the golden era of the Song dynasty, when there was no limit to how long emperors could rule.

In recent decades, Xi Jinping has traveled a notorious trajectory from being a little-known politician in the country to becoming the most powerful Chinese leader in a long time.

At 69, the re-elected president may even decide to extend his rule for another five years if no reliable successor appears in the coming years.

(With AFP)

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