Xi Jinping (; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who is currently the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China. As paramount leader, he holds the offices of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the President of the People's Republic of China, and the Chairman of the Central Military Commission. As General Secretary, he is also a member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee, China's top decision-making body.
Early life
Xi Jinping is the son of former Chinese Vice Premier Xi Zhongxun and Qi Xin. He rose politically in China's coastal provinces. He was the Governor of Fujian between 1999 and 2002. Between 2002 and 2007, he was Governor and CPC party chief of Zhejiang. After the dismissal of Chen Liangyu, Xi was transferred to Shanghai as the party secretary for a short time in 2007. Xi was promoted to the central leadership in October 2007 and trained to become Hu Jintao's successor.
General Secretary
In November 2012, he was elected as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and the Chairman of the Central Military Commission in the CPC convention. In March 2013, he was elected as the President of the People's Republic of China by the Chinese Congress. This started his first term as China's leader.
Chinese leadership changes every 5 years, and it happens roughly in October/November (for CPC and military) and March next year (for government). In October 2017 and March 2018, Xi was re-elected as party, military and government leader. This started his second term.
By tradition in recent decades, the Chinese leader leads two terms (10 years in total). The second term identifies his successor and prepares for the power transfer. However, Xi stopped this tradition and abandoned his potential successors Hu Chunhua and Sun Zhengcai.
On 11 March 2018, the National People's Congress approved an amendment to the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, so that Xi and the future presidents could be reelected for president without term limits.
In July 2018, a trade war started between US and China. At the early stage Xi showed China's muscle by declaring to fight "a tooth for a tooth". As the conflicts continues to worsen, China softened its stance. There were reports that Xi's authority got damaged by his handling of the trade dispute with US.
Personal life
Xi was born on 15 June 1953 in Beijing, China. His father held lots of posts, including party propaganda chief and vice premier. He has been married to Peng Liyuan since 1987. They have one daughter, Xi Mingze, who graduated from Harvard University in 2015. Xi lives in Zhongnanhai, China.
References
Other websites
Biography at www.chinavitae.com
Xi Jinping collected news and commentary at the China Digital Times
feature article on Xi, 29 September 2012
U.S. Embassy Beijing, Portrait of Xi Jinping , via United States diplomatic cables leak Osnos, Evan, "China’s Valentine’s Day in Washington", The New Yorker, 14 February 2012. Review of comment accompanying Xi's visit.