Xi Jinping Takes Third Term as Head of the State Amidst Historic Challenges

China's leader Xi Jinping swears under oath after being firmly confirmed as head of the state for a third term during the third plenary session of the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing on March 10, 2023. Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images

Chinese leader Xi Jinping formally awarded himself a record-breaking third term as the head of the state, completing his transition into the country’s most powerful ruler in decades at a time of severe economic challenges and rising tensions with the United States and others.

Xi, 69, had already secured a third five-year term as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the most powerful post in the nation’s ruling system, last October.