Xi Jinping secured a historic third term as China’s leader on Sunday and promoted some of his closest Communist Party allies, cementing his position as the nation’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong.
The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party elected Xi as its general secretary for another five-year term, tilting the country decisively back towards one-man rule after decades of power-sharing among its elite.
Xi Jinping said “the world needs China” 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.”
He promised to “work diligently in the performance of our duties to prove worthy of the great trust of our party and our people.”
Xi was also reappointed head of China’s Central Military Commission.
The 69-year-old is now all but certain to sail through to a third term as China’s president, due to be formally announced during the government’s annual legislative sessions in March.