Xi Jinping’s norm-busting third term as China’s president rubber stamped

(CNN) — Xi Jinping’s unprecedented third term as China’s president was officially rubber stamped by the country’s political elite on Friday, solidifying his control and making him the longest-serving head of state of Communist China since its founding in 1949.

Xi was reappointed Friday as president for another five years by China’s rubber-stamp legislature in a ceremonial vote in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People — a highly choreographed exercise in political theater meant to demonstrate the legitimacy and unity of the country’s political elite.

He received a unanimous 2,952 votes followed by a standing ovation.

The reappointment of Xi, China’s most powerful and authoritarian leader in decades, was largely seen as a formality, after the 69-year-old secured a norm-shattering third term as head of the Chinese Communist Party last fall.

In China, the presidency is a largely ceremonial title. Real power resides in the positions head of the party and military — two key roles that Xi also holds and was reappointed to at a key Communist Party congress in October.

Nevertheless, his reappointment as head of state officially completes his transition into a second decade in power.

And it comes amid a broader reshuffle of leadership roles in the central government, or the State Council, and other state organizations that further increases Xi’s already firm grasp on the levers of power.

Li Qiang, one of Xi’s most trusted protégés, is expected to be chosen China’s premier on Saturday. Traditionally, the premiership is a powerful role in charge of the economy, although over the past decade, its power has been severely eroded by Xi, who has taken almost all decision-making into his own hands.

On Friday, the National People’s Congress also approved a sweeping plan to reform institutions under the State Council, including the formation of a financial regulatory body and national data bureau and a revamp of its science and technology ministry.

This story was first published on CNN.com. “Xi Jinping’s norm-busting third term as China’s president rubber stamped“