BEIJING: History was made on Friday as Xi Jinping was unanimously elected president of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) at the ongoing session of the 14th National People’s Congress.
Nearly 3,000 members of China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress (NPC), voted unanimously in the Great Hall of the People for Xi. The voting lasted for about an hour and the electronic counting was completed in about 15 minutes.
In October last year, Xi was reconfirmed for another five years as general secretary of the central committee of the ruling Communist Party. Xi is the only leader of China who successfully pulled out around 800 million people out of poverty. Xi also led a vigorous campaign to purge the country of corruption and introduced new laws to ensure strict party discipline.
Over the next two days, officials approved by Xi are set to be appointed or elected to fill top positions in the cabinet, including premier-in-waiting Li Qiang, who is expected to be named to China’s No.2 post, putting him in charge of managing the world’s second largest economy.
Xi chatted casually with Li, who was seated to his left, as delegates deposited voting slips into electronic ballot boxes. The election of state leaders by the parliament comes three months after tough COVID-19 policies were dismantled. Except for dozens of top leaders, all other delegates and staff wore masks.
Xi will make a speech on Monday before the annual parliamentary session closes, as China faces multiple challenges. Earlier this week, Xi blamed the United States and the West for the difficulties faced by China’s economy, remarks unusual from him for being directly at Washington.
While the presidential role is largely ceremonial, Xi had already been re-elected by the party to chair its central military commission and has started his third five-year term as the Chinese armed forces commander-in-chief.
The parliament also elected Zhao Leji, 66, as the new parliament chair and Han Zheng, 68, as the new vice president. Both are close aides of Xi and were members of the previous team of party leaders at the Politburo Standing Committee.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was among top leaders who extended felicitations to Xi Jinping on being re-elected as President of China. In his message on Friday, the Prime Minister said the government and people of Pakistan congratulate President Xi Jinping on being elected as the President of China for the next five years.
He said the confidence of the Chinese people and parliament in President Xi Jinping is a recognition of his extraordinary leadership skills. Shehbaz Sharif said President Xi Jinping has become a symbol of China’s development and people’s prosperity.
The PM said under the visionary leadership of President Xi Jinping, China is making remarkable achievements in every field, including education, health, agriculture, innovation, and technology.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also sent a message to his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, warmly congratulating him on his election as Chinese president.
Putin said he would like to extend his warm congratulations to Xi on the occasion of his election as president of the People’s Republic of China.
The decision adopted by the National People’s Congress of China shows that Xi, as the head of state, enjoys high prestige and that the strategies he has formulated on promoting China’s economic and social development and safeguarding China’s interests on the international stage have won the support of the Chinese people, Putin said.
Putin speaks highly of Xi’s contribution to strengthening the Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination, expressing his firm belief that with joint efforts of both sides, the Russia-China cooperation in various fields will continue to yield fruitful results.
Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), sent a message to Xi Jinping, congratulating him on his election as Chinese president on Friday.
Thongloun Sisoulith, general secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) Central Committee and Lao president, on Friday sent a message to Xi Jinping, congratulating him on his election as Chinese president.
