Key figures: Xi Jinping, Hu Jintao, Wen Jiabao, Li Keqiang, Bo Xilai, Gu Kailai, Neil Heywood
Background: Path to Power
Xi Jinping’s ascent to the pinnacle of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership was the product of decades of provincial and central government experience. Born in 1953 to Xi Zhongxun — a founding-generation revolutionary and former Vice Premier later purged during the Cultural Revolution — Xi spent his formative teenage years in rural Shaanxi province as part of Mao Zedong’s “sent-down youth” programme. He later studied chemical engineering at Tsinghua University before building a career through successive provincial postings in Hebei, Fujian, Zhejiang, and Shanghai, each representing a more senior administrative role.
By 2007 Xi had been selected for the nine-member Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), the highest decision-making body in China, at the 17th National Congress. In 2008 he became Vice President of the People’s Republic of China and Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission. His selection for the PSC in 2007 — ahead of Li Keqiang, widely seen as the other main candidate — signalled to informed observers that he was the designated successor to General Secretary Hu Jintao.
The 18th National Congress (8–15 November 2012)
The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China convened in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing from 8 to 14 November 2012, with approximately 2,268 delegates in attendance. The Congress formally approved the Party Constitution’s revision, reviewed the Central Committee report, and elected the new 205-member Central Committee and 130-member Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
On 15 November 2012, the newly elected Central Committee convened its First Plenum, which in turn selected the new Politburo, Politburo Standing Committee, and Secretariat. Xi Jinping was announced as General Secretary of the CCP — the paramount position — and simultaneously as Chairman of the Central Military Commission, taking direct command of China’s armed forces. The new seven-member Politburo Standing Committee (reduced from nine under Hu Jintao) comprised:
- Xi Jinping — General Secretary
- Li Keqiang — designated Premier
- Zhang Dejiang
- Yu Zhengsheng
- Liu Yunshan
- Wang Qishan — assigned to lead the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection
- Zhang Gaoli
Xi formally completed the state-level transition by assuming the Presidency of the People’s Republic of China and Chairmanship of the State’s Central Military Commission at the 12th National People’s Congress on 14 March 2013, with Li Keqiang becoming Premier on 15 March 2013.
The Bo Xilai Scandal: Shadow Over the Transition
The 18th Congress transition was shadowed by the most high-profile CCP factional crisis in decades. Bo Xilai, the charismatic Party Secretary of Chongqing municipality and widely expected candidate for the Politburo Standing Committee, was removed from his position in March 2012 after his former police chief Wang Lijun fled to the US Consulate in Chengdu with evidence implicating Bo’s wife, Gu Kailai, in the November 2011 murder of British businessman Neil Heywood. Gu was convicted and given a suspended death sentence in August 2012. Bo himself was expelled from the CCP in September 2012, stripped of his party and state positions, and subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment in September 2013 on charges of bribery, abuse of power, and embezzlement.
The Bo affair exposed deep fissures within the CCP elite over corruption, inequality, and political direction — Bo had championed a populist revival of Maoist culture (“singing red songs”) in Chongqing. For Xi’s incoming leadership, the scandal simultaneously weakened potential factional rivals and provided a clear mandate to pursue a sweeping anti-corruption campaign as a central governance priority.
Policy Directions After Elevation
Within weeks of taking power, Xi articulated the concept of the “China Dream” (中国梦) — the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” — in a speech at the National Museum of China on 29 November 2012. The formulation became the governing ideological frame of his leadership.
Key policy directions that followed the 2012 elevation:
- Anti-corruption campaign (from 2013): Led by Wang Qishan and the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the campaign investigated and punished over a million officials at all levels within the first five years, including senior figures such as former PSC member Zhou Yongkang, generals Xu Caihou and Guo Boxiong, and Politburo member Bo Xilai.
- Belt and Road Initiative (announced 2013): A transcontinental infrastructure investment and trade programme spanning Asia, Africa, and Europe; by 2020 it had engaged over 140 countries.
- Military modernisation: Sweeping restructuring of the People’s Liberation Army, including reorganisation of command theatres, development of carrier battle groups, and anti-satellite and cyber capabilities.
- Recentralisation of Party authority: Xi acquired an unprecedented accumulation of portfolios through the creation of new Leading Small Groups, reducing the influence of the State Council and Premier relative to the General Secretary — reversing a trend toward collective governance that had characterised the Jiang and Hu eras.
- 2018 constitutional amendment: The National People’s Congress removed presidential term limits, allowing Xi to govern beyond the informal two-term convention.
Global Implications
Xi’s elevation in November 2012 set in motion a fundamental shift in Chinese foreign policy from Deng Xiaoping’s “hide your strength, bide your time” posture toward a more assertive global engagement. Tensions escalated with the United States, Japan, and European governments over trade practices, technology standards (notably Huawei and 5G), the South China Sea, Hong Kong’s political status, and Taiwan. By contrast, relations with Russia deepened significantly, culminating in a “no limits” partnership statement issued by Xi and Vladimir Putin in February 2022.
See Also
- Vladimir Putin — 2012 Return to Presidency — a parallel 2012 consolidation of power in a major authoritarian state, Putin’s May return to the Russian presidency
- Kim Jong-un’s 2012 Leadership Consolidation in North Korea — the same-year first-year consolidation of a new leader in a neighbouring one-party state
- Barack Obama — 2012 Re-election Victory — the U.S. leadership continuity against which the CCP’s once-a-decade handover was contrasted
- Mohamed Morsi — 2012 Egyptian Presidency and Muslim Brotherhood — another consequential 2012 leadership change, in post-Mubarak Egypt
- South Korea 2012 Presidential Election — the December 19 election of Park Geun-hye in East Asia the same year
- Syrian Civil War — 2012 Escalation — the conflict over which China (with Russia) repeatedly blocked UN Security Council action
- 2012 Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands Dispute — the Sino-Japanese maritime confrontation that unfolded during Xi’s handover and prefigured his assertive, nationalist foreign policy