Xi Jinping to lead China for historic third term

China’s Communist Party awarded Xi Jinping his third five-year term as the general secretary, which breaks the tradition of the country’s leader stepping down after two terms. Mao Zedong, who founded the communist state and led it for more than 25 years, is the only other party leader to have ever served more than two terms. The 69-year-old leader has no vocal opposition in the government, said Ho-fung Hung, a professor of political economy at Johns Hopkins University. The announcement was a part of a congress that’s held every five years. The meeting could have resulted in a change to China’s “zero-COVID” strategy, but no changes to the policy were announced. 

Who are the other leaders? Xi also announced the seven members of the party’s top decision-making body, the Politburo Standing Committee. Li Qiang walked in behind Xi as the committee was being announced. He’s now the No. 2 leader as the Shanghai party secretary. Zhao Leji, already a member, was promoted to No. 3, and is likely to head the legislature. All seven are loyal to Xi, leading some to say Xi is choosing people who are loyal rather than experienced. 

Dig deeper: Listen to Les Sillars’ report in the DoubleTake podcast on people in another communist country, North Korea.