LIFE HISTORY - Xi Jinping - THE MOST POWERFUL MAN IN CHINA
Xi Jinping became president of China in 2012, ushering in an era of increased assertiveness and authoritarianism.He has been front and center of China's push to cement its position as a superpower, while also launching crackdowns on corruption and dissent.
A consummate political chess player who has cultivated an enigmatic strongman image, the leader of the ruling Chinese Communist Party has rapidly consolidated power, having his ideas mentioned by name in the constitution - an honor that had been reserved only to Mao Zedong until now.
The "Xi Jinping Thought" means that any challenge to the president will now be seen as a threat to Communist Party rule.
A seven-man leadership committee unveiled in October 2017 included no obvious heir, raising the prospect that Mr. Xi intended to govern beyond the next five years. The Communist Party has now confirmed that aim, with a proposal to remove a clause in the constitution that limits the presidency to two terms.
Born in Beijing in 1953, Xi Jinping is the son of revolutionary veteran Xi Zhongxun, one of the Communist Party's founding fathers and a vice-premier.
Because of his illustrious roots, Mr. Xi is seen as a "princeling" - a child of elite senior officials who have risen up the ranks.
But his family's fortunes took a drastic turn when his father was purged in 1962 prior to the Cultural Revolution and imprisoned.
At the age of 15, the younger Xi was sent to the countryside for "re-education" and hard labor in the remote and poor village of Liangjiahe for seven years - an experience that would later figure largely in his official story.
Mr. Xi has vigorously pursued what he has called a "great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation" with his China Dream vision.
Under him, China has enacted economic reform to combat slowing growth, such as cutting down bloated state-owned industries and reducing pollution, as well as its One Belt One Road trade project.
The country has become more assertive on the global stage, from its continued dominance in the South China Sea despite international protestations, to its exercise of soft power by pumping billions of dollars into Asian and African investments.
This has been accompanied by a resurgence in patriotic nationalism whipped up by state media, with a particular focus on Mr. Xi as China's strongman leader, leading some to accuse him of developing a personality cult like that of former leader Mao Zedong.
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