Xi Jinping was confirmed as General-Secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) on Sunday.
The 69-year old is the first Chinese leader to hold the fort for the third time since the party was founded 100 years ago.
The confirmation was formally announced after the first session of the Central Committee of the CPC’s 20th National Congress on Sunday, reported Xinhua.
The party also confirmed a total of 205 members of the Committee on Saturday during which Xi’s predecessor Hu Jintao was unexpectedly removed from the ongoing session at the Great Hall of China.
Reportedly, the 79-year-old Jintao was not feeling well.
Xi, who was also named as chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission, serves as president of the world’s second largest economy.
He rose to China’s top post in 2013 and won a second term in 2018 when he removed a bar on the presidential term.
Speaking to foreign and local reporters after his confirmation Sunday, Xi said China will open its door wider to the rest of the world.
“We’ll be steadfast in deepening reform and opening up across the board, and in pursuing high-quality development,” Xi said, “A prosperous China will create many more opportunities for the world”.
Just as China cannot develop in isolation from the world, he said the world needs China for its development.
Xhi also said the Chinese economy has great resilience and potential. “Its strong fundamentals will not change, and it will remain on the positive trajectory over the long run.”
China’s GDP growth has averaged over 9% a year since it began to reform its economy in 1978, according to the World Bank.
Its GDP has grown from 54 trillion yuan (about $7.6 trillion) to 114 trillion yuan in the past decade. China is now an upper-middle-income country.
