He is more than ever the strong man of China. Xi Jinping was reappointed on Friday March 10 for a third term as head of state – for a period of five years – after a unanimous vote in Parliament. This historic longevity is the culmination of a rise that has seen him become the country’s most powerful ruler for generations.
The result of the deputies’ vote, without appeal (2,952 votes for, zero against, zero abstentions), was greeted by thunderous applause from the parliamentarians gathered in Beijing, in the huge People’s Palace bordering Tiananmen Square. This new mandate is not a surprise: the Parliament being, in practice, subservient to the Communist Party (PCC) in power, the outcome of the ballot was not in doubt.