On the 10th, President Xi Jinping's Third Term Confirmed... Attention on Unanimity

Chinese President Xi Jinping's third term is expected to be officially confirmed on the 10th. The focus is on whether it will be unanimous.

The National People's Congress (NPC), which will confirm key officials of Xi Jinping's third-term government and reorganize state institutions, opened on the 5th in Beijing.

Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Photo by Yonhap News Agency

The NPC is scheduled to hold its third plenary session on the 10th to elect President Xi as the State President and Chairman of the Central Military Commission. Although NPC delegates vote to decide the State President and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, given the political system of China where the Party is above all institutions, this is effectively a foregone conclusion.

The interest is not in whether he will be elected, but whether it will be unanimous. Five years ago, in 2018, Xi was re-elected as State President and Chairman of the Central Military Commission with unanimous votes from 2,970 NPC delegates. In the initial election for State President in 2013, the vote was 2,952 in favor, 1 against, and 3 abstentions. Following his first and second terms, Xi is expected to continue to hold absolute power through the 'trinity' of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, State President, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission in his third term.

On the same day, the Vice President and the Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee will also be elected. Han Zheng, a former Standing Committee member, has been nominated for Vice President, and Li Zhanshu, a Standing Committee member, is expected to take the position of Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee.

On the following day, the 11th, the fourth plenary session will hold a vote to decide the successor to Premier Li Keqiang. Li Chang, the second-ranked Standing Committee member of the Communist Party of China, has been nominated for Premier. In the 2018 vote, current Premier Li Keqiang received 2 opposing votes and 0 abstentions, and in the 2013 vote, he received 3 opposing votes and 6 abstentions.

There is interest in whether support for Li Chang, known as a close aide to President Xi, will surpass that for Premier Li Keqiang.

Additionally, the NPC will hold its fifth plenary session on the 12th to finalize the Vice Premiers and other officials, concluding the nine-day schedule with a closing ceremony on the 13th.