Xi Jinping is Re-Elected for a Third Term as China's President

On Friday, the National People's Congress (PNA) unanimously elected Xi Jinping to a third term as China's president and chairman of the Central Military Commission.

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This decision was made by some 3,000 lawmakers who voted for the 69-year-old Chinese leader to serve as president from 2023 to 2028. His re-election was possible thanks to the fact that the ANP approved a constitutional amendment in 2018 that eliminated a restriction that established that a president could only serve two consecutive terms.

Xi Jinping's five-year re-election as head of state comes after the Chinese leader managed in October to extend his term as head of the Communist Party and the Army, the country's two most important leadership positions.

Born in Beijing in June 1953, Xi joined the Communist Party at the age of 22. He began to build his own network of followers in the provinces until he was appointed governor of Fujian and, later, secretary of the Communist Party in Fujian and Shanghai.

In the late 2000s, Xi rose to greater political prominence as the Communist Party began searching for a candidate with strong leadership to replace then-President Hu Jintao.

In 2012, Xi was elected secretary of the Communist Party and, the following year, he became president under the promise of fighting the prevailing corruption.

As for the challenges Xi will face in the future, he has warned that China will navigate a "stormy sea" in the coming years, which augurs calls for maximum unity within the Communist Party. 

In this context, his biggest challenge will be to deal with the incessant and growing tension with the United States, especially regarding the Taiwan situation.