Xi Jinping Becomes General Secretary

Rise to Power

Xi Jinping was formally elected General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party on November 15, 2012, at the conclusion of the 18th Party Congress, succeeding Hu Jintao. Xi had been groomed for leadership through a career spanning provincial governance in Fujian, Zhejiang, and Shanghai, and five years as a Politburo Standing Committee member. His selection was the result of elite consensus among the nine-member Standing Committee rather than open competition.

The Xi Era: Centralization and the Chinese Dream

Xi's leadership marked a significant departure from the collective leadership model that had governed China since Deng Xiaoping. He accumulated power across multiple dimensions: launching an anti-corruption campaign that detained over a million officials including senior figures such as Zhou Yongkang and Bo Xilai; consolidating military command; tightening control over media, internet, academia, and civil society; and establishing himself as the "core" leader. His "Chinese Dream" concept articulated a vision of national rejuvenation and the restoration of China's great-power status.

Constitutional Changes

In 2018 the National People's Congress amended the constitution to remove presidential term limits, which had been set at two terms since 1982 as a structural check against the return of one-man rule. The change cleared the path for Xi to remain in power indefinitely. At the 20th Party Congress in 2022, Xi secured an unprecedented third term as General Secretary, further consolidating a degree of personal power not seen since Mao Zedong.