Xi Jinping
General Secretary / President
Timeline
Born in Beijing.
Sent to Liangjiahe Village, Shaanxi, during the Down to the Countryside Movement.
Studied chemical engineering at Tsinghua University.
Appointed deputy party secretary of Zhengding County, Hebei.
Served as Governor of Fujian.
Joined the Politburo Standing Committee.
Succeeded Hu Jintao as General Secretary of the CCP and Chairman of the Party Central Military Commission.
Amended the constitution to remove presidential term limits.
Biography
Xi Jinping, born on 15 June 1953 in Beijing, is the paramount leader of China. He has served as the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Party Central Military Commission (CMC) since 2012, and as the President of China and Chairman of the State Central Military Commission since 2013. The elder son of Xi Zhongxun, he was sent to the rural village of Liangjiahe during the Cultural Revolution. After studying chemical engineering at Tsinghua University, Xi rose through party ranks, serving as governor of Fujian (1999-2002) and Zhejiang (2002-2007). He joined the Politburo Standing Committee in 2007 and became Vice President in 2008. His leadership has been marked by an anti-corruption campaign, military restructuring, poverty alleviation efforts, and an assertive foreign policy, including the Belt and Road Initiative. In 2018, he amended the constitution to remove presidential term limits, and his ideology, Xi Jinping Thought, has been incorporated into national constitutions.
Early Life & Background
Xi Jinping was born on 15 June 1953 in Beijing, the third child of Xi Zhongxun and his second wife Qi Xin. His father was a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) revolutionary who held posts such as vice premier. Xi has two older sisters, Qi Qiaoqiao and Qi An'an. In 1963, his father was purged from the CCP, and during the Cultural Revolution in 1966, Xi was persecuted due to his father's status, with his family home ransacked. In 1968, his father was imprisoned, and Xi, at age 15, was sent to Liangjiahe Village, Shaanxi, as part of the Down to the Countryside Movement, where he lived in a yaodong for seven years. His applications for CCP membership were initially denied due to his father's political persecution but were later approved.
Education
Xi Jinping attended Beijing Bayi School and later the Beijing No. 25 School. From 1975 to 1979, he studied chemical engineering at Tsinghua University in Beijing as a worker-peasant-soldier student.
Political & Professional Career
After graduating in April 1979, Xi Jinping worked at the General Office of the State Council as a secretary to Geng Biao. In March 1982, he was appointed deputy party secretary of Zhengding County, Hebei, becoming secretary of the CCP Zhengding County Committee in July 1983. He served as vice-mayor of Xiamen from June 1985, then secretary of Ningde from September 1988. In May 1990, he was assigned as Fuzhou City's Municipal Committee Secretary, and by 1995, he was deputy secretary of the Fujian Provincial Committee. He was elected an alternate member of the 15th CCP Central Committee in 1997 and became a member of the 9th National People's Congress in 1998. Xi was promoted to Vice Governor of Fujian in 1999, becoming governor a year later, serving until 2002. In October 2002, he became deputy governor, acting governor, and deputy Party secretary of Zhejiang, later becoming provincial Party Committee secretary. He briefly served as Shanghai party secretary in 2007, the same year he joined the Politburo Standing Committee. He was appointed Vice President in 2008 and Vice Chairman of the CMC in 2010. In 2012, he succeeded Hu Jintao as General Secretary of the CCP and Chairman of the Party Central Military Commission, and in 2013, became President of China and Chairman of the State Central Military Commission. In 2018, he amended the constitution to remove presidential term limits, and was re-elected in 2023, becoming the first Chinese president to serve more than two terms.
Key Achievements & Legacy
Initiated a sweeping anti-corruption campaign and a restructuring of the People's Liberation Army., Launched a battle against poverty, expanded state-owned enterprises, and promoted advanced manufacturing., Expanded China's presence in Africa and Eurasia through the Belt and Road Initiative., Amended the constitution in 2018 to remove presidential term limits, and became the first Chinese president to serve more than two terms upon re-election in 2023., Incorporated his ideology, Xi Jinping Thought, into the party and national constitutions.