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Xi Jinping elected president of China
March 14, 2013, 8:44 am

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The new president will attend the 5th BRICS Summit in South Africa later this month [Xinhua]

Xi Jinping has been elected president of the People’s Republic of China.

The plenary meeting of the first session of the 12th National People’s Congress (NPC) elected Zhang Dejiang chairman of the NPC Standing Committee as well.

One hundred and sixty one members of the 12th NPC Standing Committee were also elected.

Xi, the newly elected Chinese President, now holds the following office — general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission, and chairman of China’s Central Military Commission.

Xi was born in June 1953 and belongs to China’s Han community from Fuping, Shaanxi Province.

He entered the workforce in January 1969 and joined the Communist Party of China (CPC) in January 1974.

He graduated from the school of humanities and social sciences at Tsinghua University with a major in Marxist theory and ideological and political education.

After assuming the role of general secretary of the CPC in November, Xi has stressed on addressing corruption and promoting austerity in public spending.

China’s new president, will attend the 5th BRICS Summit in South Africa later this month.

Xi will also visit Russia to boost ties with China’s traditional ally Russia, a foreign ministry spokesman announced earlier last week.

The president had also emphasised on China’s growing ties with the African Union.

“No matter how situations change, China will attach importance to ties with Africa, remain a reliable friend and faithful partner of African nations and always regard the AU as a reliable strategic partner,” said the Chinese leader earlier in February.

The African Union has been invited to be an observer at this month’s BRICS Summit.

Source: Agencies