by Staff
March 14, 2013 (TSR-Xinhua) – Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, was elected president of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and chairman of the PRC Central Military Commission (CMC) on Thursday.
When Liu Yunshan, executive chairman of the presidium for the first session of the 12th National People’s Congress (NPC), announced the election results, Xi stood up and bowed to nearly 3,000 NPC deputies in the Great Hall of the People.
Amid thundering applause, he shook hands with Hu Jintao, who had served as head of state since 2003.
Born in 1953 into a revolutionary family from Fuping of northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, Xi joined the CPC in January 1974.
He graduated from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Tsinghua University with a major in Marxist theory and ideological and political education.
From the Loess Plateau to the southeast coast and then to Beijing, and from county-level official to the central leadership, Xi has had a well-rounded political career.
On Nov. 15, 2012, he was elected general secretary of the CPC Central Committee at the first plenum of the 18th CPC Central Committee and became the first top Party leader born after October 1949, when the People’s Republic of China was founded.
Xi’s performance as Party leader in the past four months has been impressive, said Cai Jiming, an NPC deputy.
“I am inspired by Xi’s elaboration on the ‘Chinese dream,'” he said. “He has advocated a new working style and shown resolve in pushing forward reform and fighting corruption, which is refreshing to me.”
Li Yuanchao, a 62-year-old member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, was elected vice president.
From 2007 to 2012, Li headed the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee.
TOP LEGISLATOR
The plenary meeting also saw the elections of leaders and members of the 12th NPC Standing Committee, the permanent organ of the country’s parliament.
Zhang Dejiang, a 66-year-old member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, was elected chairman of the NPC Standing Committee. He replaced Wu Bangguo, who held the position for the past decade.
The new top legislator and his predecessor also enjoyed a warm handshake after the election results were announced.
Zhang, who graduated from the Department of Economics at Kim Il Sung University in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), has been vice premier since 2008. Before that, he led Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces, two of the country’s most developed provinces.
Li Jianguo, Wang Shengjun, Chen Changzhi, Yan Junqi, Wang Chen, Shen Yueyue, Ji Bingxuan, Zhang Ping, Qiangba Puncog, Arken Imirbaki, Wan Exiang, Zhang Baowen and Chen Zhu were elected vice chairpersons of the NPC Standing Committee.
Wang Chen was also elected secretary-general of the NPC Standing Committee.
A total of 2,963 deputies participated in the secret ballot under the supervision of 35 election monitors.
In the conference hall, 28 ballot boxes had been installed for the elections. Each deputy cast four ballots — crimson for president and vice president, bright red for CMC chairman, purple for leaders of the NPC Standing Committee and orange for members of the NPC Standing Committee.
According to the election and appointment rules adopted at the NPC session, the elections of chairman, vice chairpersons and secretary-general of the 12th NPC Standing Committee, president and vice-president of the PRC, and chairman of the CMC are non-competitive.
The elections of the 12th NPC Standing Committee members are competitive. A total of 161 members were elected from a pool of 174 candidates, bringing the 7-percent margin in the previous election five years ago to 8 percent.
The NPC deputies also adopted a massive cabinet restructuring and streamlining plan aimed at reducing bureaucracy and making the government more efficient.
“I believe that under the new leadership, a moderately prosperous society can be built as we expect,” said Zhu Liangyu, a migrant worker deputy who has worked as a security guard in Beijing for 20 years.
XI JINPING BRIEF BIO
The following is the biographical sketch of Xi Jinping:
Xi Jinping, born in June 1953, is a male ethnic Han from Fuping, Shaanxi Province. He entered the workforce in January 1969 and joined the Communist Party of China (CPC) in January 1974. He graduated from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Tsinghua University with a major in Marxist theory and ideological and political education, has an in-service postgraduate education and holds the degree of Doctor of Laws.
He is currently general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission, president of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), chairman of the PRC Central Military Commission.
1969-1975 Educated youth and Party Branch secretary, Liangjiahe Brigade, Wen’anyi Commune, Yanchuan County, Shaanxi Province
1975-1979 Student of basic organic synthesis, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University
1979-1982 Secretary, General Office, State Council and Central Military Commission (AD)
1982-1983 Deputy secretary, CPC Zhengding County Committee, Hebei Province
1983-1985 Secretary, CPC Zhengding County Committee, Hebei Province; concurrently first commissar and Party Committee first secretary, Zhengding County Military Affairs Department
1985-1988 Member, Standing Committee, CPC Xiamen Municipal Committee, Fujian Province; and vice mayor, Xiamen
1988-1990 Secretary, CPC Ningde Prefectural Committee, Fujian Province; and concurrently first secretary, Party Committee, Ningde Military Sub-region
1990-1993 Secretary, CPC Fuzhou Municipal Committee, Fujian Province; chairman, Standing Committee, Fuzhou Municipal People’s Congress; and concurrently first secretary, Party Committee, Fuzhou Military Sub-region
1993-1995 Member, Standing Committee, CPC Fujian Provincial Committee; secretary, CPC Fuzhou Municipal Committee; chairman, Standing Committee, Fuzhou Municipal People’s Congress; first secretary, Party Committee, Fuzhou Military Sub-region
1995-1996 Deputy secretary, CPC Fujian Provincial Committee; secretary, CPC Fuzhou Municipal Committee; chairman, Standing Committee, Fuzhou Municipal People’s Congress; first secretary, Party Committee, Fuzhou Military Sub-region
1996-1999 Deputy secretary, CPC Fujian Provincial Committee; first commissar, Fujian Provincial Antiaircraft Artillery Reserve Division
1999-2000 Deputy secretary, CPC Fujian Provincial Committee; acting governor, Fujian Province; deputy director, National Defense Mobilization Committee, Nanjing Military Area Command; director, Fujian Provincial National Defense Mobilization Committee; first commissar, Fujian Provincial Antiaircraft Artillery Reserve Division
2000-2002 Deputy secretary, CPC Fujian Provincial Committee; governor, Fujian Province; deputy director, National Defense Mobilization Committee, Nanjing Military Area Command; director, Fujian Provincial National Defense Mobilization Committee; first commissar, Fujian Provincial Antiaircraft Artillery Reserve Division (1998-2002: studied Marxist theory and ideological and political education in the In-service Postgraduate Class at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Tsinghua University, and awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws)
2002-2002 Deputy secretary, CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee; acting governor, Zhejiang Province; deputy director, National Defense Mobilization Committee, Nanjing Military Area Command; director, Zhejiang Provincial National Defense Mobilization Committee
2002-2003 Secretary, CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee; acting governor, Zhejiang Province; first secretary, Party Committee, Zhejiang Provincial Military Region; deputy director, National Defense Mobilization Committee, Nanjing Military Area Command; director, Zhejiang Provincial National Defense Mobilization Committee
2003-2007 Secretary, CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee; chairman, Standing Committee, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Congress; first secretary, Party Committee, Zhejiang Provincial Military Region
2007-2007 Secretary, CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee; first secretary, Party Committee, Shanghai Garrison Command
2007-2008 Member, Standing Committee, Political Bureau; and member, Secretariat; of the CPC Central Committee; president, Central Party School
2008-2010 Member, Standing Committee, Political Bureau; and member, Secretariat; of the CPC Central Committee; vice president, PRC; president, Central Party School
2010-2012 Member, Standing Committee, Political Bureau; and member, Secretariat; of the CPC Central Committee; vice president, PRC; vice chairman, CPC and PRC Central Military Commission; president, Central Party School
2012-2013 General secretary, CPC Central Committee; chairman, CPC Central Military Commission; vice president, PRC; vice chairman, PRC Central Military Commission
2013- General secretary, CPC Central Committee; chairman, CPC Central Military Commission; president, PRC; chairman, PRC Central Military Commission
Alternate member, Fifteenth CPC Central Committee; member, Sixteenth through Eighteenth CPC Central Committees; member, Political Bureau and its Standing Committee, and Secretariat, Seventeenth CPC Central Committee; member, Political Bureau and its Standing Committee, and general secretary, Eighteenth CPC Central Committee; elected as vice president of the PRC at the First Session of the Eleventh National People’s Congress (NPC); appointed as a vice chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission at the Fifth Plenary Session of the Seventeenth CPC Central Committee; appointed as a vice chairman of the PRC Central Military Commission at the Seventeenth Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Eleventh NPC; appointed as chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission at the First Plenary Session of the Eighteenth CPC Central Committee; elected president of the PRC and chairman of the PRC Central Military Commission at the First Session of the Twelfth NPC.
