Xi Jinping solidified his status as China’s most powerful leader in decades by sweeping into a new term as president on Friday, as he steels the country for an era of superpower rivalry and seeks to revive a battered economy.
The unanimous vote on the presidency by the Communist Party-controlled legislature formalised Xi’s continued dominance of Chinese politics after he had already claimed a fresh term as party leader in October.
He will keep holding the three main crowns of power in China — party, military and state — with no rivals or potential successors vying for attention.
With his personal power secure, Xi, 69, is now casting himself as the strong leader that China needs in a hostile world, dismissive of the criticisms that his autocratic style is adding to the country’s dangers.
The party’s heavy-handed pursuit of “zero Covid” dragged on the economy, set off rare, widespread protests and added to investor worries about the country’s long-term growth prospects.
Under Xi, China’s relations with the West have become increasingly strained, especially over Beijing’s rising pressure on Taiwan and Chinese closeness to Russia throughout the war in Ukraine.
The Communist Party has used a meeting of the National People’s Congress, the legislature, in Beijing to urge the nation to rally behind Xi.
At a meeting with business leaders this week, Xi suggested that western animosity was to blame for some of China’s economic troubles and took the rare step of openly accusing the US of “all-around containment, encirclement and suppression”.
“In the coming period, the risks and challenges that we’re facing will only become more and more numerous and grim,” Xi told the business leaders, members of an advisory council. He urged officials to remain “calm and focused” while also bracing for “struggle”.
Xi is poised to install his trusted officials in a new government line-up that will carry out his agenda of reviving growth and guarding China against threats at home and abroad. He has sought to assure jittery private businesses that the party embraces them. \
He initiated a government reorganisation intended to better control financial risks and encourage more homegrown scientific innovation. But Xi’s messages can be mixed, if not contradictory.
Even as he extended a friendly hand to private businesses, describing them as “one of us”, he has reminded them that they must serve the party’s priorities, including national security and rural development.
Xi’s warnings against the West may help to solidify support at home, but a more pugnacious stance risks escalating tensions with Washington and undercutting China’s economic recovery.
New York Times News Service
