Xi Jinping
Overview
Xi Jinping (习近平) is a politician of the People's Republic of China, born on June 15, 1953, in Beijing, who concurrently holds the posts of General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Chinese Communist Party, President of the People's Republic of China, and Chairman of the State Central Military Commission, exercising unified supreme power over the party, the state, and the military. Since being elected General Secretary at the 18th Party Congress in November 2012, he has pursued an anti-corruption campaign, the Belt and Road Initiative, and military reform, reshaping the direction of China's domestic and foreign policy. His tenure is often referred to as "Xi Jinping's New Era (新时代)," and he is assessed as having achieved the strongest concentration of power since Mao Zedong, with his name and thought written into the Party Constitution (党章) and the Constitution.
Main Content
Life and Early Career
Xi Jinping was born the son of revolutionary elder Xi Zhongxun (習仲勳). In 1969, during the Cultural Revolution, he was dispatched as a sent-down educated youth to Liangjiahe (梁家河) in the Yan'an area of Shaanxi Province, where he lived in the countryside for seven years, and in 1974 he joined the Chinese Communist Party. In 1975 he entered the Department of Chemical Engineering at Tsinghua University, and later obtained degrees from the National Defense University and elsewhere. In 1982 he began his local administrative career as deputy secretary of Zhengding County in Hebei Province, served for 17 years in Fujian Province holding key posts in Xiamen, Ningde, Fuzhou, and other places, and after serving as party secretary of Zhejiang Province in 2002 and party secretary of Shanghai in 2007, he entered the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 17th Central Committee that same year. From 2008 to 2013 he served as Vice President.
Assumption of Supreme Leadership and Power Structure
In November 2012, he was elected General Secretary at the plenary session of the 18th Central Committee, and in March 2013 he took office as President at the National People's Congress. Thereafter, he reorganized military and security organizations, including the establishment of the National Security Commission, the restructuring of the Central Military Commission, and the transition from the military region (軍區) to the theater command (戰區) system. In 2018, the National People's Congress passed a constitutional amendment deleting the provision limiting the presidential term, and in 2022 he succeeded in a third term at the 20th Party Congress; in March 2023 he began an unprecedented third term as President. Systems of loyalty toward him, such as the "Two Establishments (兩個確立)" and the "Two Upholds (兩個維護)," have been institutionalized.
Major Policies
In the economic sphere, he has put forward common prosperity (共同富裕), the "dual circulation (雙循環)" strategy of domestic and external markets, regulation of real estate and platform companies, and carbon neutrality goals. Politically, since 2012 he has strengthened control through a large-scale anti-corruption campaign that punished numerous senior figures in the party, the state, and the military. In diplomacy, he announced the Belt and Road (一帶一路) initiative in 2013 and led the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and he has expanded influence by utilizing multilateral frameworks such as BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). On the Taiwan issue, while emphasizing the "One China" principle and peaceful reunification, he simultaneously applies military pressure.
Latest Trends
In 2024-2025, China continues policies that combine fostering manufacturing with boosting domestic demand while responding to structural economic challenges such as the real estate crisis, local government debt, youth unemployment, and deflationary pressure. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee held in July 2024 discussed medium- and long-term reform tasks, and in September of the same year monetary and fiscal policies to stimulate the economy were announced. Externally, as U.S. tariffs on China and export controls on advanced technology continued, strategic competition between the U.S. and China intensified, and China is responding by expanding cooperation with Global South countries. In addition, in 2025 security issues such as the strengthening of aircraft carrier capabilities, military activity around the Taiwan Strait, and tensions in the South China Sea continue to come to the fore, and fostering advanced industries such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and electric vehicles and building self-reliant supply chains are emerging as key agenda items. In domestic politics, ahead of the 21st Party Congress in 2027, the question of succession and power transfer is being cited as a major concern of the international community.
Related Topics
- [[Chinese Communist Party]]
- [[People's Republic of China]]
- [[Belt and Road]]
- [[U.S.-China relations]]
- [[Taiwan issue]]