Xi Jinping

His Excellency

Xi Jinping
His Excellency; Xi Jinping
习近平
	Xi in May 2024
9th General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 15 November 2012
Preceded by	Hu Jintao
7th President of China
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 14 March 2013
Premier	See list
Vice President	See list
Preceded by	Hu Jintao
6th and 13th Chairman of the Central Military Commission
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; Party Commission: 15 November 2012; State Commission: 14 March 2013;
Deputy	See list
Preceded by	Hu Jintao
7th First-ranked Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party
	In office; 22 October 2007 – 15 November 2012
General Secretary	Hu Jintao
Preceded by	Zeng Qinghong
Succeeded by	Liu Yunshan
8th Vice President of China
	In office; 15 March 2008 – 14 March 2013
President	Hu Jintao
Preceded by	Zeng Qinghong
Succeeded by	Li Yuanchao
Personal details
Born	15 June 1953 (age 71); Beijing, China
Political party	CCP (since 1974)
Spouse(s)	Ke Lingling; (m. 1979; div. 1982); Peng Liyuan (m. 1987);
Parents	Xi Zhongxun; (Father); Qi Xin; (Mother);
Residence	Zhongnanhai
Alma mater	Tsinghua University
Occupation	Politician
Signature

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Xi.

Xi Jinping (/ʃiː dʒɪnˈpɪŋ/; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the 9th General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and the 13th Chairman of the Central Military Commission since 2012, and as well as the 7th President of China since 2013.^[1] As General Secretary, he is also a member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee, China's top decision-making body.^[2] Xi is the first CCP general secretary born after the establishment of the People's Republic of China.^[3]^[4]

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 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.^[5]^[6]

with Shinzō Abe in October 2018

In July 2018, a trade war started between the 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.^[7]

In October 2022, Xi was re-elected to a third term. This re-election made him the first party leader since Mao Zedong to be chosen for a third term, though Deng Xiaoping ruled the country informally for a longer time.^[8]

Personal life

Xi was born on 15 June 1953 in Beijing, China.^[9] His father held lots of posts, including party propaganda chief and vice premier.^[10] 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.

Xi Jinping Media

President George W. Bush with Vice President Xi Jinping
Dmitry Medvedev in China 28 September 2010-6
The Muscatine, Iowa house where Xi stayed with an American family during a 1985 agricultural visit to the United States. The home was turned into a museum decades later.
Portrait of Xi in Beijing, September 2015
Xi Jinping and other members of the 20th Politburo Standing Committee meeting the press, October 2022
Xi Jinping with US President Joe Biden at the 17th G20 in Bali, November 2022
World leaders assemble for "family photo" at G20 summit in Hamburg
Xi having tea with Vladimir Putin in the garden of Zhongnanhai during Putin's visit to China in May 2024
Hong Kong protesters throw eggs at Xi Jinping's portrait on National Day
Xi swearing in John Lee as chief executive during the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China