Xi Jinping was handed a third term as Chinese president on Friday, capping a rise that has made him the country’s most powerful leader in generations.
The appointment by China’s rubber-stamp parliament comes after Xi locked in another five years as head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in October.
Since then, the 69-year-old Xi has weathered widespread protests over his zero-Covid policy and the deaths of countless people after its abandonment.
Those issues have been avoided at this week’s National People’s Congress (NPC), a carefully choreographed event set to appoint Xi ally Li Qiang as the new premier.
On Friday, delegates handed Xi a third term as China’s president and unanimously re-elected him as head of the country’s Central Military Commission.
