Chinese Communist Party’s (CPC) general secretary Xi Jinping was unanimously elected the president of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for the third consecutive term at the ongoing session of the 14th National People’s Congress (NPC) on Friday, March 10th. He was elected with an overwhelming majority as he received 2,952 votes out of 3,000 at the session.
The NPC also elected Xi as the chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and Han Zheng as the vice president of the PRC at the same session.
Xi Jinping’s unprecedented third term as China’s president made him the most influential leader after legendary communist leader Mao Zedong in the history of the PRC.
Notably, the NPC has the power to elect and remove a person for and from the post of the Chinese president. The NPC will elect the new premier of the PRC on Saturday, March 11th, as the outgoing premier Li Keqiang’s term is about to end.
The NPC elects the president, prime minister and other leading figures of the PRC once in five years.
Earlier, CPC’s former leader Deng Xiaoping amended the PRC constitution in 1982 to limit the term of the presidency to up to two for an individual. This clause was amended in 2018, and the upper capping was removed.
