Chinese President Xi Jinping, the son of a communist revolutionary leader, was a victim of the Cultural Revolution and a provincial chief during China’s economic boom before ascending to the very top a decade ago.
Yesterday, China’s 69-year-old leader secured a widely expected third term as general secretary of the ruling Communist Party, paving the way for him to remain in power for at least five more years — and possibly longer.
In his first decade in power, he tightened state control over the economy and society and promoted a more muscular foreign and defense policy, all while establishing himself as one of the most powerful leaders in China’s modern history.
EARLY YEARS
June 15, 1953: Born in Beijing, the son of Xi Zhongxun, a senior Communist Party official and former guerrilla commander in the civil war that brought the communists to power in 1949.
1969-75: At the age of 15, Xi is among many educated urban youths sent to live and work in poor rural villages during the Cultural Revolution, a period of social upheaval launched by then-leader Mao Zedong.
1975-79: Returns to Beijing to study chemical engineering at prestigious Tsinghua University.
1979-82: Joins military as aide in Central Military Commission and Defense Ministry.
REGIONAL LEADER
1982-85: Assigned as deputy and then leader of the Communist Party in Zhengding county, south of Beijing in Hebei province.
1985: Begins 17-year stint in coastal Fujian province, a manufacturing hub, as vice mayor of the city of Xiamen.
1987: Marries Peng Liyuan, a popular singer in the People’s Liberation Army’s song and dance troupe. They have one daughter. An earlier marriage for Xi fell apart after three years.
2000-2002: Governor of Fujian province.
2002: Transferred to neighboring Zhejiang province, where he is appointed party chief, a post that outranks governor in the Chinese system.
March 2007: Appointed party chief of Shanghai but stays only a few months.
October 2007: Joins national leadership as one of nine members of the Politburo Standing Committee, the top leadership of the Communist Party.
March 2008: Named vice president of China.
August 2011: Xi hosts then-Vice President Joe Biden on the latter’s visit to China, nearly a decade before Biden becomes U.S. president.
NATIONAL LEADER
November 2012: Replaces Chinese President Hu Jintao as general secretary of the Communist Party, the top party position.
March 2013: Starts first five-year term as president of China.
2013-2014: China begins reclaiming land in the South China Sea to build islands, some with runways and other infrastructure, pushing its territorial claims to disputed areas in the vital waterway.
2017: China launches a crackdown on the Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim ethnic radical groups in the Xinjiang region after extremist attacks.
October 2017: The party enshrines his ideology, known as “Xi Jinping Thought,” in its constitution as he starts a second five-year term as leader. This symbolically elevates him to Mao’s level as a leader whose ideology is identified by his name.
March 2018: China’s legislature abolishes a two-term limit on the presidency.
July 2018: The United States, under President Donald Trump, imposes tariffs on Chinese imports, starting a trade war. China retaliates with tariffs on U.S. goods.
June-November 2019: Massive protests paralyze Hong Kong. Xi’s government responds by enacting a national security law in mid-2020 “to put an end to the political turmoil,” as said by Beijing.
January 2020: China locks down the city of Wuhan as a new virus sparks what will become the COVID-19 pandemic.
September 2020: Xi announces in a video speech to the U.N. General Assembly that China aims to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.
December 2020: Authorities announce an anti-monopoly investigation into e-commerce giant Alibaba, the start of a crackdown on China’s high-flying tech companies.
August 2022: China launches missiles and deploys warships and fighter jets in major military exercises around Taiwan following the visit of a senior U.S. lawmaker, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, to the self-governing island that China claims as its territory.
October 2022: Xi starts a third five-year term as Communist Party leader, breaking with recent precedent that limited leaders to two terms.MDT/AP
