Xi Jinping has been president of China since 2013. And will remain so until at least… 2028!
He has built up his career from a very young age. His father was a high-up on the Chinese political scene.
But is he like all other presidents?
In China, there is only one political party allowed; the Communist Party.
Designated by this party, Xi Jinping is a proud and authoritarian president who rules with an iron fist.
His portrait is everywhere in the country. He would like to be seen as the heir to the emperors of ancient China.
At the beginning of 2023, he was unanimously re-elected by 3,000 delegates. Anyone who criticizes him is silenced.
He wants to control everything. The population and the media are not allowed to express themselves freely. Demonstrations… are rare.
Since the appearance of Covid, his government ordered several very strict lockdowns over three years.
And a people in North West China, the Uyghurs, have even been persecuted for years… because their region is strategic for China’s commercial relations with Europe.
One of Xi Jinping’s goals is indeed to continue to enrich his country, the world’s second economic power.
The influence of the Chinese president on the world is therefore very real, and we’ll have to deal with him for a long time to come.