Chinese President Xi Jinping elected as delegate to CPC Congress; all set to get endorsement for rare third term

This year, Xi will complete his 10-year term, although all of his predecessors left office after serving two five-year terms.

President Xi Jinping

Beijing: China's ruling Communist Party has set the ball rolling for a rare third term for President Xi Jinping as he was unanimously elected as a delegate for the once-in-five-year party Congress to be held in the next few months which was widely expected to put a seal of approval for his continuation.

Xi, 68, was elected delegate to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at the party's Guangxi regional Congress by a unanimous vote on Friday, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Xi was nominated by the CPC Central Committee as a candidate for delegate to the 20th CPC National Congress, scheduled to be held in the second half of 2022, the report said.

The CPC Congress of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region was held on Thursday and Friday in the regional capital of Nanning.

The Congress, which is due to be held in November, has been preponed apparently as the leadership get-on with it early in view of the complex and fluid national and international situation starting from the relapse of COVID-19 virus in the country paralysing Shanghai and the deepening Russia-Ukraine war in which Beijing was caught in the middle with mounting US pressure to break off from close ally Moscow.

Ever since his first election in a similar CPC Congress towards the end of 2012, Xi heading the party, the powerful military and the presidency have consolidated his hold on power, highlighting the need for strong leadership to strengthen the stability of the party and the country in the face of international adversity building against the country on a host of issues.

With highly successful campaigns like the crackdown against corruption punishing over a million officials, including over 50 top Generals of the military, besides subduing massive anti-China agitation in Hong Kong with National Security Law and tiding over the international adversity generated by the emergence of the corona virus pandemic from Wuhan, Xi has emerged stronger every year.

He has emerged as a core leader on par with the party founder Mao Zedong, who remained in power until he died in 1976.

This year, Xi will be completing the 10-year tenure. All his predecessors retired after two five-year terms. By virtue of elevation to the status of a core leader, he will continue to remain in power for another five-year term and perhaps for life.

The plenum of the CPC held in November last year already paved the way for Xi's continuation by adopting a landmark resolution to cement his "core" status in the country's political history and cleared the decks for him to extend his rule for a record third term and beyond.

The Congress will usher in a completely new set of officials, including a new Premier as incumbent Li Keqiang, who has the status of number two after Xi, has already announced that he will be stepping down.