BEIJING:
Xi Jinping said "the world needs China" as he spoke to the press after securing a historic third term as leader on Sunday.
"China cannot develop without the world, and the world also needs China," Xi said. "After more than 40 years of unflagging efforts towards reform and opening up, we have created two miracles -- rapid economic development and long-term social stability."
Xi Jinping secured a historic third term as China's leader on Sunday and promoted some of his closest Communist Party allies, cementing his position as the nation's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong.
The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party elected Xi as its general secretary for another five-year term, Xinhua reported, tilting the country decisively back towards one-man rule after decades of power-sharing among its elite.
"I wish to thank the whole party sincerely for the trust you have placed in us," Xi told journalists at Beijing's Great Hall of the People after the closed-door vote was announced.
He promised to "work diligently in the performance of our duties to prove worthy of the great trust of our party and our people."
Xi was also reappointed head of China's Central Military Commission.
The 69-year-old is now all but certain to sail through to a third term as China's president, due to be formally announced during the government's annual legislative sessions in March.
China's Communist Party
His anointment came after a week-long Congress of 2,300 hand-picked party delegates during which they endorsed Xi's "core position" in the leadership and approved a sweeping reshuffle that saw former rivals step down.
The 20th Congress elected the new Central Committee of around 200 senior party officials, who then gathered on Sunday to elect Xi and the other members of Standing Committee -- the apex of Chinese political power.
Xi promotes top aides, loyalists to Standing CommitteeChinese President Xi Jinping Xi stacked the seven-member Politburo Standing Committee -- the party's apex of power -- with four allies, including two of his former secretaries, in a move that flaunts his power and rewards loyalty above all, analysts said.
Current Shanghai Party boss Li Qiang -- who oversaw a harsh two-month Covid-19 lockdown in the metropolis earlier this year -- is likely to take over as premier from Li Keqiang, who will retire next year.
Close aide Ding Xuexiang, Guangdong Party chief Li Xi and Beijing Party boss Cai Qi were also in the new lineup, according to state media broadcasting from Beijing's Great Hall of the People.
No women in Chinese Communist Party Politburo for first time in 25 yearsThe Chinese Communist Party's top body will have no full women members for the first time in 25 years, according to the new Politburo roster released Sunday.
Sun Chunlan, the only woman sitting on the previous Politburo, has retired, and no other women were appointed.