Xi Jinping

Xi Jinping, the "paramount leader". As President of the People's Republic, he has ruled China since 2013. The China.table editorial team dares to take a look at one of the most powerful men in the world.Xi Jinping owes the title "paramount leader" to his enormous power. Xi Jinping has been General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chair of the Central Military Commission since 2012. His time as head of government has been characterized by economic progress on the one hand and major political crises on the other. An overview. Xi Jinping profile Xi Jinping is President of the People's Republic and thus governs China. He is General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, which is the sole ruling party in the country. Xi Jinping's family Xi Jinping was born in 1953 as the third of four sons. His mother was called Qi Xin, Xi Jinping's father was Xi Zhongxun, who was himself a politician. He was forced to resign from office during the Cultural Revolution in 1966. Xi Jinping was sent to the village of Liángjiāhé for political re-education. There he had to work in the fields and immediately after his first degree, Xi Jinping married Ke Lingling. She was the daughter of Ke Hua. A Chinese ambassador who worked in London from 1978 to 1983. When his daughter followed him to England in 1982, although Xi Jinping remained in Beijing, the marriage was dissolved and Xi Jinping married a second time in 1987. His current wife, Peng Liyuan, is a popular folk music singer. The couple received a lot of attention from the Chinese state media. A break with tradition. After all, the first lady in China does not usually receive so much attention. The couple have a daughter with Xi Mingze. She was born in 1992. She completed her studies at Harvard University in 2014. She has lived in Beijing ever since. What education does Xi Jinping have? By joining the CCP in 1974, Xi Jinping was able to attend Tsinghua University in Beijing. From 1975 to 1979, he obtained a degree in chemical engineering. Between 1998 and 2002, Xi Jinping studied a second time. This time he completed a part-time degree in Marxist philosophy. He also obtained a doctorate in law (LLD). Xi Jinping's political career Xi Jinping's political career was a one-way street. He began his career as vice mayor of Xiamen (population 3.6 million). This is a city in the province of Fujian (36.2 million inhabitants) in south-east China. In 1993, he was promoted to the provincial administration of Fujian, where he became deputy party secretary just two years later and finally governor of Fujian in 2000. This was followed by positions as Governor of Zhejiang (2002), Secretary of the Provincial Committee and chair of the People's Congress. Also in Zhejiang (2003). Xi Jinping's rise to the top A political earthquake catapulted Xi Jinping into a top political office in the People's Republic of China. Chen Liangyu was mayor of Shanghai until 2007. He was forced to resign due to corruption. He was later sentenced to 18 years in prison. Xi Jinping became party leader in Shanghai and was also responsible for Hong Kong and Macau, and when the 11th National People's Congress convened on March 15, 2008, the participants elected him Vice President. Under the then head of state Hu Jintao, he was the second most powerful man in the People's Republic of China and the designated successor as head of government. Hu Jintao announced his resignation in November 2012. He was succeeded by Xi Jinping in March 2013. Overview: Xi Jinping's political offices 1982-1983: Deputy Party Secretary in Zhengding From 1983: Party Secretary in Zhengding 1985-1988: Vice Mayor in Xiamen From 1993: Member of the provincial administration of Fujian 1995-2000: Governor of Fujian From 2000: Member of the party leadership in Zhejiang 2002-2007: Governor of Zhejiang From 2003: Secretary of the Provincial Committee and chair of the People's Congress in Zhejiang From March 2007: Party leader in Shanghai From October 2007: Member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the CCP March 15, 2008: Vice President of the People's Republic of China Nov. 15, 2012: General Secretary of the Communist Party of China March 14, 2013: President of the People's Republic of China Is Xi Jinping a dictator? Xi Jinping has always managed to maintain and expand his power. In 2018, for example, the National People's Congress approved an amendment to the constitution. Since then, presidents have been allowed to remain in office for longer than two terms. He does not have to fear competition. Unpopular party colleagues have been politically eliminated and his fear of losing power has led to some strange developments. Ever since a meme compared him to Winnie the Pooh in 2013, the state censorship department has had to delete Xi Jinping memes featuring the chubby Disney bear. All images, comparisons and jokes also disappear from the internet immediately. Even the movie "Christopher" Robin, a live-action remake of the classic with Winnie the Pooh, was banned in the People's Republic. Xi Jinping and the Internet: Power struggle and censorship Xi Jinping prefers only controlled messages to go out to his people. This is why the Twitter news service is also blocked in the People's Republic. Instead, there are other services. Weibo, for example. A platform for microblogging. Xi Jinping tried his hand at Weibo in December 2015. His first post received over 300,000 reposts and 35,000 comments in around thirty hours.Xi Jinping's power struggle also includes a dispute with Jack Ma, the founder of the trading and communications platform Alibaba. In October 2020, the billionaire harshly criticized the financial regulator of the People's Republic of China. He had compared the state banks to pawnshops. Jack Ma then disappeared from public life. He was even banned from his role as a TV judge on a casting show for young entrepreneurs. Xi Jinping and the coronavirus from Wuhan Probably the biggest crisis that Xi Jinping has had to overcome in his time as President of the People's Republic of China was the coronavirus. It is said to have been transmitted from animals to humans for the first time at a wild animal market in Wuhan. The state leadership around Xi Jinping has taken action against the coronavirus with strict restrictions. Hubei province, which has a population of 56 million, has been completely isolated from the outside world, with Xi Jinping's actions in Wuhan described by the World Health Organization (WHO) as "possibly the most ambitious, rapid and aggressive disease containment effort in history". In the western world, countries are not ready for such measures "both mentally and materially". However, critics of the president also disappeared or were silenced by the censorship authority in connection with the coronavirus policy. Trade war with Donald Trump US President Donald Trump sharply attacked his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping over the coronavirus crisis. Trump was disappointed that Xi Jinping had not been able to contain the coronavirus. In fact, Xi Jinping had long sowed doubts that Sars-Cov-2 came from Wuhan. Chinese diplomats even blamed the US military, with Trump describing Covid-19 as a China or Wuhan virus and declaring to Xi Jinping: "This is the worst attack we've ever had. It's worse than Pearl Harbor. This is worse than the World Trade Center." A trade war between the two countries ensued. Wang Yi, a Chinese diplomat, described it as a "new Cold War". Xi Jinping and Angela Merkel The tone between Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, and Xi Jinping was much more diplomatic. The two heads of state announced in March 2020 that "the current crisis situation can only be resolved through close international cooperation". This may be a very low common denominator, but it is one nonetheless.politically speaking, however, there is also a lot at odds between Angela Merkel and Xi Jinping. In a strategy paper, the EU Commission calls the People's Republic a "systemic rival". China is not moving an inch towards its trading partners on important European issues such as the investment protection agreement or climate protection. How much money does Xi Jinping earn? As President of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping earns a very modest EUR 20,000 per year. Nevertheless, the business magazine Spears estimates Xi Jinping's wealth at USD 1.5 billion. The background to this is a report by the Bloomberg news agency from 2012, which states that Xi Jinping's family has earned "several hundred million dollars". Mainly through political contacts. In 2014, the offshore leaks research also revealed that money had been moved abroad through offshore companies. Xi Jinping debate If you want to find out more about the President of China, you can read the Xi Jinping book The World of Xi Jinping by Kerry Brown. Anyone traveling to China should know the correct pronunciation of Xi Jinping. The "X" is pronounced softly, i.e. "ch". The pronunciation of his surname is therefore "Chi". The "J" at the beginning of the first name sounds like "Dsch". The correct pronunciation of Xi Jinping is therefore "Chi Dschinping". All the latest news and important information about Xi Jinping is available from the China.Table editorial team.