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China Communist Party Congress: Xi Jinping secures third term in power in closed-door voting

by Trans World Features | @twfindia 22 Oct 2022, 11:54 pm

Chinese President Xi Jinping secured a third term in a closed-door vote on Sunday after a week-long gathering in Beijing of the selected members of the Communist Party of China or CPC, media reports said.

After announcing his third term, Xi addressed the media to introduce his new leadership team.

"I wish to thank the whole Party sincerely for the trust you have placed in us," he told journalists at Beijing's Great Hall of the People, AFP reported.

He promised to "work diligently in the performance of our duties to prove worthy of the great trust of our Party and our people."

"China cannot develop without the world, and the world also needs China," he said allaying fears that China's economy might close off to the world, according to BBC.

"After more than 40 years of unflagging efforts towards reform and opening up, we have created two miracles - rapid economic development and long-term social stability."

According to media reports, his party also approved a sweeping reshuffle that saw former rivals step down.

He is expected to sail through his third term as China's President due only for formal announcement during the government's annual legislative sessions in March.

Xi's third term establishes him as the most powerful leader in China after Mao Zedong in the 1970s, political observers have opined.

Since becoming the country's president 10 years ago, Xi has garnered concentration of power like no other leader than Mao.

In 2018, he removed the presidential two-term limit paving the way for him to rule indefinitely.