Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping is a Chinese statesman and politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and chairman of the Central Military Commission since 2012, and the president of China since 2013. Xi has been the leader of the fifth generation of Chinese leadership since 2012.
The elder son of Chinese Red Army veteran Xi Zhongxun's second marriage to Qi Xin, Xi was born in Beijing and was exiled to rural Liangjiahe Village, Yanchuan County, Shaanxi Province, as a teenager following his father's purge during the Cultural Revolution. He lived in a yaodong in the village of Liangjiahe, where he joined the CCP after several failed attempts and worked as the local party secretary. After studying chemical engineering at Tsinghua University as a worker-peasant-soldier student, Xi rose through the ranks politically in China's coastal provinces. Xi was governor of Fujian from 1999 to 2002, before becoming governor and party secretary of neighboring Zhejiang from 2002 to 2007. Following the dismissal of the party secretary of Shanghai, Chen Liangyu, Xi was transferred to replace him for a brief period in 2007. He subsequently joined the Politburo Standing Committee of the CCP the same year and was the first-ranking member of the Central Secretariat in October 2007. In 2008, he was designated as Hu Jintao's presumed successor as paramount leader. Towards this end, Xi was appointed the vice president and vice chairman of the CMC. He officially received the title of leadership core from the CCP in 2016.
While overseeing China's domestic policy, Xi has introduced far-ranging measures to enforce party discipline and strengthen internal unity. His anti-corruption campaign led to the downfall of prominent incumbent and retired CCP officials, including former PSC member Zhou Yongkang. For the sake of promoting "common prosperity", Xi has enacted a series of policies designed to increase equality, overseen targeted poverty alleviation programs as part of the battle against poverty, and directed a broad crackdown in 2021 against the tech and tutoring sectors. Furthermore, he has expanded support for state-owned enterprises, emphasized advanced manufacturing and tech development, advanced military-civil fusion, and led attempts to reform China's property sector. Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China, he initially presided over a zero-COVID policy from January 2020 to December 2022 before ultimately shifting towards a mitigation strategy after COVID-19 protests occurred. Xi has pursued a more hardline foreign policy particularly with regard to China's relations with the United States, the nine-dash line in the South China Sea, and the Sino-Indian border dispute. Additionally, Xi has sought to expand China's influence in Africa and Eurasia by championing the Belt and Road Initiative. Xi presided over a deterioration in relations between Beijing and Taipei under Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen, successor of Ma Ying-jeou whom Xi met in 2015. In 2020, Xi oversaw the passage of a national security law in Hong Kong, which clamped down on political opposition in the city, especially pro-democracy activists.
Since coming to power, Xi's tenure has witnessed a significant increase in censorship and mass surveillance, a deterioration in human rights, the rise of a cult of personality, the removal of term limits for the presidency in 2018, as well as an increased role for the CCP in society. Xi's political ideas and principles, known as Xi Jinping Thought, have been incorporated into the party and national constitutions. As the central figure of the fifth generation of leadership of the PRC, Xi has centralized institutional power by taking on multiple positions, overseen significant reforms of Party, state and military bodies, while also increasing CCP's influence over the state bodies. In October 2022, Xi secured a third term as CCP General Secretary, and was re-elected state president for an unprecedented third term in March 2023.
Early life and education
Xi Jinping was born on 15 June 1953 in Beijing as the third child of Xi Zhongxun and his second wife Qi Xin. A Chinese Communist Party revolutionary, Xi's father held a series of posts after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, including head of the Party Publicity Department, vice premier, and vice chairperson of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. Xi has two older sisters, Qi Qiaoqiao, born in 1949, and Qi An'an, born in 1952. Xi's father was from Fuping County, Shaanxi.Xi went to Beijing Bayi School and then Beijing No. 25 School in the 1960s. In 1963, when Xi was ten years old, his father was purged from the CCP and sent to work in a factory in Luoyang, Henan. In May 1966, the Cultural Revolution cut short Xi's secondary education when all secondary classes were halted for students to criticise and fight their teachers. Student militants ransacked the Xi family home. Also during the Cultural Revolution, Xi's half-sister Heping hanged herself at her military academy. His mother was forced to publicly denounce his father, as he was paraded before a crowd as an enemy of the revolution. His father was later imprisoned in 1968, when Xi was aged 15. In 1969, Xi left Beijing and arrived in Liangjiahe Village, Yan'an, Shaanxi, alongside CCP Chairman Mao Zedong's Down to the Countryside Movement. The rural areas of Yan'an were very backward. After a few months, unable to stand rural life, he ran away to Beijing. He was arrested during a crackdown on deserters from the countryside and sent to a work camp to dig ditches. He later returned to the village under the persuasion of his aunt Qi Yun and uncle Wei Zhenwu.
He then spent a total of seven years in Liangjiahe, where he lived in a cave house. In 1973, Yanchuan County assigned Xi Jinping to Zhaojiahe Village in the Jiajianping Commune to lead social education efforts. Due to his effective work and strong rapport with the villagers, the community expressed a desire to keep him. However, after Liangjiahe Village advocated for his return, Xi went back in July that same year. The village branch secretaries supported his application to the CCP. Yet, due to his father Xi Zhongxun still facing political persecution, the application was initially denied by the higher authorities. Despite submitting ten unsuccessful applications, it wasn't until the new commune secretary had recognized Xi's capabilities that his application was forwarded to the CCP Yanchuan County Committee and approved in early 1974. Around that time, as the Liangjiahe village underwent leadership changes, Xi was recommended to become the Party branch chairman of the Liangjiahe Brigade, later taking office. In 1975, when Yanchuan County was allocated a spot at Tsinghua University, the CCP Yanchuan County Committee recommended Xi for admission. From 1975 to 1979, Xi studied chemical engineering at Tsinghua University as a worker-peasant-soldier student in Beijing.
Early political career
Central Military Commission
After graduating in April 1979, Xi was assigned to the General Office of the State Council and the General Office of the CCP Central Military Commission, where he served as one of three secretaries to Geng Biao, a member of the CCP Politburo and Minister of Defense.Hebei
On 25 March 1982, Xi was appointed deputy party secretary of Zhengding County in Hebei. Together with Lü Yulan, the other deputy party secretary of Zhengding, Xi wrote a letter to the central government addressing the excessive requisitions that burdened local farmers. Their efforts successfully convinced the central government to reduce the annual requisition amount by 14 million kilograms. In 1983, Zhengding adjusted its agricultural structure, leading to a significant increase in farmers' incomes from 148 yuan to over 400 yuan in 1984, thoroughly solving the county's economic issues.As the secretary of the CCP Zhengding County Committee in July 1983, Xi initiated several development projects, including the development of "Nine Articles of Zhengding talents", the construction of Changshan Park, the restoration of the Longxing Temple, the formation of a tourism company, and the establishment of the Rongguo Mansion and Zhengding Table Tennis Base. He also persuaded the China Teleplay Production Center to set the filming base of Dream of the Red Mansions in Zhengding and secured 3.5 million yuan to build Rongguo Mansion, which significantly boosted the county's tourism industry, generating 17.61 million yuan in revenue that year. Additionally, Xi invited prominent figures such as Hua Luogeng, Yu Guangyuan, Pan Chengxiao to visit Zhengding, which eventually led to the development of the county's "semi-urban" strategy, leveraging its proximity to Shijiazhuang for diverse business growth.
In September 1984, during a briefing session chaired by He Zai, the secretary-general of the CCP Central Organization Department, Xi Jinping's strategic vision and comprehensive understanding of Zhengding County's development were highlighted. He Zai, along with Wei Jianxing, deputy head of the CCP Central Organization Department, communicated these findings to Hu Yaobang, describing Xi as a leader with a strategic outlook and a strong alliance ideology between workers and peasants. In 1985, Xi participated in a study tour on corn processing and traveled to Iowa, the United States, to study agricultural production and corn processing technology. During his visit to the U.S., the CCP Central Organization Department decided to transfer him to Xiamen as a member of the Standing Committee of the CCP Xiamen Municipal Committee and as vice mayor.
Fujian
Arriving in Xiamen as vice-mayor in June 1985, Xi drafted the first strategic plan for the development of the city, the Xiamen Economic and Social Development Strategy for 1985–2000. From August, Along with helping to prepare Xiamen Airlines, the Xiamen Economic Information Center, and the Xiamen Special Administrative Region Road Project, etc., he oversaw the resolution for Yundang Lake's comprehensive treatments. He married Peng Liyuan then in Xiamen. He started serving as the head of a region after being appointed just as the secretary of Ningde in September 1988. Ningde's economy was far worse at that time than that of Fuzhou and Xiamen. Xi organized his work log and experience during his Ningde period into his book Getting out of Poverty, and handled the local poverty eradicating efforts and local CCP building projects. The CCP Fujian Provincial Committee decided in May 1990 to assign Xi to Fuzhou City as the Municipal Committee Secretary. In 1995, Xi Jinping was elevated to deputy secretary of the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.In September 1997, he was elected as an alternate member of the 15th CCP Central Committee by the 15th Party National Congress. In 1999, he was promoted to the office of Vice Governor of Fujian, and became governor a year later. Xi proposed the concept of the Golden Triangle at Min River and oversaw the construction of the Fuzhou 3820 Project Master Plan, which outlines Fuzhou City's growth strategy for 3, 8, and 20 years. He concentrated on the development of Changle International Airport, the Min River Water Transfer Project, the Fuzhou Telecommunication Hub, and Fuzhou Port, among others. He concentrated on attracting Taiwanese and foreign investment, establishing Southwest TPV Electronics and Southeast Automobile in Fuzhou, and fostering Fuyao Glass, Newland Digital Technology and other manufacturing firms. Furthermore, he rehabilitated local cultural landmarks, including as the Sanfang Qixiang in Fuzhou, advanced urban renewal initiatives, and effectively addressed the issue of poverty alleviation on Pingtan Island. He served as Governor of Fujian from 1999 to 2002, during which he presented the notion of "Megalopolises" and advocated for the inter-island growth strategy of Fuzhou and Xiamen, which motivated local officials to swiftly overcome the repercussions of the Yuanhua smuggling case and adopt a new development strategy. Xi also oversaw the development of "Digital Fujian", including the province's complaint hotline into the "12345 Citizen Service Platform", so enhancing organizational efficiency.