Xi Jinping is a Chinese politician and the President of the People’s Republic of China. He was born on June 1, 1953, in Beijing, the capital of China. His father, Xi Zhongxun, was one of the revolutionary leaders of the early People’s Republic of China and a prominent political figure who worked closely with Mao Zedong during the Chinese Revolution.

Xi Jinping studied chemical engineering between 1975 and 1979 at Tsinghua University, one of China’s most prestigious universities. He is widely known in China by the nickname “princeling,” a title given to the children of senior revolutionary leaders. This designation stems from his father’s influential role as part of the first generation of revolutionary leadership in the People’s Republic of China.

Entering politics in the 1970s, Xi Jinping became a member of the Chinese Communist Party and steadily rose through its ranks, holding various administrative and party positions. Between 1979 and 1982, he served as secretary in the office of the Central Military Commission. He later held posts such as deputy party secretary in Zhengding County of Hebei Province until 1985.

From 1985 to 1988, Xi Jinping served as vice mayor of Xiamen in Fujian Province, located in southern China, and continued working in provincial party organizations there until 1996. Between 1996 and 2002, he acted as deputy secretary of the Fujian Provincial Party Committee. From 2002 to 2007, he was party secretary of Zhejiang Province, one of China’s wealthiest regions, and in 2007 he became party secretary of Shanghai, China’s economic capital.

In 1985, Xi Jinping was part of a delegation that traveled to Iowa, United States, to study American agricultural systems, during which he lived in the country briefly. It is often noted that from this period he developed an interest in basketball and a fondness for Hollywood war films.

Since 2007, Xi Jinping has been a standing member of the Politburo, and in 2008 he was appointed Vice President of the People’s Republic of China. While serving as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and Vice President, he was elected President on March 14, 2013, at the 12th National People’s Congress of China.

Following Xi Jinping’s assumption of the presidency, bureaucratic reforms were implemented, including the reduction of the number of ministries and the consolidation of various government institutions. China’s population was recorded as approximately 1.354 billion in 2012 and increased to about 1.383 billion by 2016.

Xi Jinping was married to Ke Lingling between 1979 and 1982; the marriage ended in divorce. In 1987, he married Peng Liyuan, a renowned Chinese folk music singer. The couple has a daughter, Xi Mingze, born on June 27, 1992.

At the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party held in October 2022, Xi Jinping was elected for a third term as General Secretary, becoming the first leader since Mao Zedong to hold the party’s top position for more than two terms. Having previously been elected president in 2013 and 2018, he was re-elected on March 9, 2023, for another five-year term, making him the first president in the history of the People’s Republic of China to serve a third term. He was also reappointed as Chairman of the Central Military Commission, continuing his role as commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

Source: Biyografiler.com