Xi officially clinches third term as Chinese president

Xi Jinping officially clinched his third term as Chinese president on Friday, following a largely ceremonial vote by the country’s rubber-stamp legislature.

The nearly 3,000-member National People’s Congress voted unanimously for Xi, the only candidate, to serve another five-year term as president, according to Xinhua, China’s state news agency. Xi’s unprecedented third term comes after the Chinese legislature voted to abolish a two-term limit on the presidency in 2018.

In October, Xi secured another term as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party. The general secretary holds the most power in Chinese politics, with the presidency tacked on as a primarily ceremonial post.

Xi’s reelection comes amid increasingly tense relations with the United States.

A suspected Chinese spy balloon was shot down off the coast of South Carolina last month, after it spent a week traversing the U.S. and surveying strategic sites. Beijing has maintained that the high-flying object was simply a weather balloon blown off course and accused American lawmakers of overreacting.

Tensions were further inflamed when the U.S. accused the Chinese of “strongly considering” providing Russia with lethal aid in its war against Ukraine. China, which has sought to paint itself as a neutral arbiter in the conflict, put out a 12-point peace plan in late February, and alongside Belarus, called for a cease-fire and negotiations.