Not a voice is missing. Xi Jinping obtained a historic third term as Chinese president on Friday March 10 after a formal vote by deputies. The Parliament in China being, in practice, subservient to the Communist Party (CCP) in power, the outcome of the ballot was not in doubt, and the result announced shortly before 11 a.m. local time (4 a.m. in Paris) is without appeal: 2 952 votes for, zero against, zero abstentions.
The 69-year-old leader had already obtained in October 2022 a five-year extension at the top of the CCP and the military commission, the two most important positions of power. The only candidate, he was reappointed for the same period as Head of State.
The last few months have however been complicated for Xi Jinping, with major demonstrations at the end of November 2022 against his “zero Covid” policy and a large wave of deaths which followed the abandonment, in December, of this health strategy.
Sensitive subjects carefully avoided during the current annual session of Parliament, a highly orchestrated event during which Li Qiang, an ally of Mr. Xi, should become the new prime minister to replace Li Keqiang. A new vice-president must also be formally elected by parliament on Friday, replacing Wang Qishan.
“A vision of China”
MEPs have mainly focused in recent days on an institutional reform project aimed at beefing up the Ministry of Science and Technology and China’s digital capabilities, in the face of what the government presents as “containment” West against China in this sector.
The annual session of Parliament was also an opportunity to announce a modest growth target “about 5%” for 2023 and an increasing defense budget.
The formal re-election of Xi Jinping to the top of the state crowns a remarkable political rise during which he went from politician little known to the general public to the most powerful Chinese leader for decades.
Author of a biography on the president, the Swiss writer and journalist Adrian Geiges believes that personal enrichment is not his primary motivation. “That’s not what interests him.he told Agence France-Presse. He really has a vision for China, he wants China to become the most powerful country in the world. »
Many challenges
For decades, the People’s Republic of China, scalded by political chaos and the cult of personality during the reign (1949-1976) of its leader and founder Mao Tse-tung, had promoted a more collegial governance at the top of power. By virtue of this model, Xi Jinping’s predecessors, namely Jiang Zemin and then Hu Jintao, had each given up their place as president after ten years in this position.
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But Mr. Xi put an end to this rule by abolishing the limit of two presidential terms in the Constitution in 2018, while allowing a quasi-cult of personality to develop around him. He therefore becomes the longest-serving supreme leader in China’s recent history. Septuagenarian at the end of this new mandate, he could even potentially extend for a new five-year term if no credible dolphin asserts himself in the meantime.
But his challenges remain numerous at the head of the second world economy, between the slowdown in growth, the fall in the birth rate, the difficulties of the real estate sector or even the international image of China to improve.
Relations with the United States are at their lowest in decades, with many disputes, from Taiwan to the treatment of Uyghur Muslims, to rivalry in technology.
Xi Jinping this week condemned the “policy of containment, encirclement and repression against China” set up by “Western countries led by the United States” and that “has led to unprecedented challenges for development” from the country.
