Historical Figure
Xi Jinping
b. 1953
Leader of China since 2012
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Biography
Xi Jinping is a Chinese statesman and politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) since 2012, and the president of China since 2013. Xi has been the leader of the fifth generation of Chinese leadership since 2012.
Timeline
The story of Xi Jinping, told in moments.
Studies chemical engineering at Tsinghua University as a "worker-peasant-soldier student." Starts climbing the political ranks in coastal provinces. Governor of Fujian. Governor and party secretary of Zhejiang. Each posting lasts years. He rises slowly and deliberately. Nobody outside China notices.
Named General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and Chairman of the Central Military Commission. He becomes the fifth-generation leader. Launches an anti-corruption campaign that takes down over a million officials, including former Politburo Standing Committee member Zhou Yongkang. Critics say it's as much about consolidating power as fighting graft.
The National People's Congress removes presidential term limits from the constitution. Previous leaders served two terms. Xi now has no formal expiration date. He also enshrines "Xi Jinping Thought" in the party charter. Only Mao and Deng achieved that while still alive.
COVID-19 emerges in Wuhan. Xi presides over a zero-COVID policy that locks down cities of tens of millions. The policy holds for nearly three years before being abruptly abandoned in December 2022 after rare public protests. The pivot happens in days. No explanation is offered.
Secured a third presidential term with no opposition. The cave dweller from Shaanxi has centralized more power than any Chinese leader since Mao. He champions the Belt and Road Initiative, the world's largest infrastructure project, spanning 150 countries. He's 69 and shows no sign of stepping aside.
In Their Own Words (20)
Whatever stage of development it may reach, China will never pursue hegemony or expansion, and will never impose its will on others. China does not seek spheres of influence, and will not fight a cold war or a hot war with anyone. … China will remain committed to dialogue and oppose confrontation and build partnerships instead of alliances. It will continue to pursue a mutually beneficial strategy of opening up. The modernization we are pursuing is not for China alone we are ready to work with all countries to advance global modernization featuring peaceful development mutually beneficial cooperation and common prosperity and to build a community with a shared future for mankind. … No matter how the global landscape evolves, the historical trend of peaceful coexistence between China and the United States will not change.
Remarks at a dinner with U.S. corporate executives during the 2023 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forums, as quoted in "Xi Says China Will Not Fight Cold or Hot War With Anyone", Bloomberg (16 November 2023), and in "China not to fight cold war or hot war with anyone: Xi", in China Daily (16 November 2023), 2023
The capitalist road was tried and found wanting. Reformism, liberalism, social Darwinism, anarchism, pragmatism, populism, syndicalism - they all were given their moment on the stage. They all failed to solve the problems of China's future destiny. It is Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought that guided the Chinese people out of the darkness of that long night and established a New China; it is through socialism with Chinese characteristics that China has developed so quickly.
Quoted in Xi Jinping in Translation: China’s Guiding Ideology (2019), Palladium Mag, 2019
Both history and our present reality tell us that only socialism can save China—and only socialism with Chinese characteristics can develop China. This is the conclusion of history, the choice of our people.
Quoted in Xi Jinping in Translation: China’s Guiding Ideology (2019), Palladium Mag, 2019
The methods that our comrades have at hand are too primitive, none of these weapons is any answer for their big machete blades, ax heads and cold steel weapons. We must be as harsh as them and show absolutely no mercy.
About the in a series of secret speeches known as the ', as quoted in Absolutely No Mercy': Leaked Files Expose How China Organized Mass Detentions of Muslims (November 16, 2019) by Austin Ramzy and Chris Buckley, The New York Times'', 2019
China's success proves that socialism is not dead. It is thriving. Just imagine this: had socialism failed in China, had our communist party collapsed like the party in the Soviet Union, then global socialism would lapse into a long dark age. And communism, like Karl Marx once said, would be a haunting spectre lingering in limbo.
Xi Jinping article gives insight into China’s direction ahead of Communist Party congress (2018), South China Morning Post, 2018
Artifacts (15)
Visit of Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China, to the EC
Visit of Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China, to the EC
Visit of Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China, to the EC
Visit of Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China, to the EC
Visit of Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China, to the EC
yleisöä Esplanadilla Kiinan presidentti Xi Jinping valtiovierailun aikana
Kiuru, Sakari
yleisöä Esplanadilla Kiinan presidentti Xi Jinping valtiovierailun aikana
Kiuru, Sakari
The doctrine of morality, or, A view of human life, according to the stoick philosophy (IA doctrineofmorali01gomb)
Gomberville, M. Le Roy (Marin Le Roy), sieur de, 1600-1674, author
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