Today, the Chinese parliament re-elected Xi Jinping as president of the country for a third term that extends for an additional five years.
Nearly 3,000-member parliament voted unanimously to re-elect Xi Jinping, 69, with 2,952 votes without any negative votes or abstentions. Last October, Xi Jinping received a 5-year extension at the head of the Chinese Communist Party and the Military Commission, the two most important positions in the country’s power ladder.
The head of state in China is a somewhat ceremonial position, but the real power rests in the positions of chiefs of the party and the army—two positions Xi also holds. Xi Jinping’s re-election as president comes at a time when China is struggling to recover economically from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as a demographic crisis after the country recorded its first population decline in six decades.
China also faces deep trade and political differences, especially with the United States of America, a file that also poses a challenge to President Xi Jinping.
