Timeline: Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s rise and rule

Chinese President Xi Jinping, the son of a commun revolutionary leader, was a victim of the Cultural Revolution and a provincial chief during China’s economic boom before ascending to the very top a decade ago.
On Sunday, China’s 69-year-old leader secured a widely expected third term as general secretary of the ruling Commun Party, paving the way for him to remain in power for at least five more years — and possibly longer.
In his first decade in power, he tightened state control over the economy and society and promoted a more muscular foreign and defense policy, all while establishing himself as one of the most powerful leaders in China’s modern hory.
EARLY YEARS
June 15, 1953: Born in Beijing, the son of Xi Zhongxun, a senior Commun Party official and former guerrilla commander in the civil war that brought the communs to power in 1949.
FILE – This photo provided China’s Xinhua News Agency shows Commun Party Leader Xi Jinping, right, then secretary of the Ningde Prefecture Committee of the Commun Party of China (CPC), participates in farm work during his investigation in the countryside in 1988. Chinese President Xi Jinping was the son of a commun revolutionary leader, a victim of the Cultural Revolution and a provincial leader who promoted economic growth before ascending to the very top a decade ago. (AP Photo/Xinhua, File)
1969-75: At the age of 15, Xi is among many educated urban youths sent to live and work in poor rural villages during the Cultural Revolution, a period of social upheaval launched then-leader Mao Zedong.1975-79: Returns to Beijing to study chemical engineering at prestigious Tsinghua University.
FILE – This photo provided China’s Xinhua News Agency shows Commun Party Leader Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan in September 1989. Chinese President Xi Jinping was the son of a commun revolutionary leader, a victim of the Cultural Revolution and a provincial leader who promoted economic growth before ascending to the very top a decade ago. (Xinhua via AP, File)
1979-82: Joins military as aide in Central Military Commission and Defense Minry.
REGIONAL LEADER
1982-85: Assigned as deputy and then leader of the Commun Party in Zhengding county, south of Beijing in Hebei province.
1985: Begins 17-year stint in coastal Fujian province, a manufacturing hub, as vice mayor of the city of Xiamen.
FILE – In this undated file photo provided China’s Xinhua News Agency, Commun Party Leader Xi Jinping carries his daughter with a bicycle in Fuzhou, the capital of southeast China’s Fujian Province. Chinese President Xi Jinping was the son of a commun revolutionary leader, a victim of the Cultural Revolution and a provincial leader who promoted economic growth before ascending to the very top a decade ago. (Xinhua via AP, File)
1987: Marries Peng Liyuan, a popular singer in the People’s Liberation Army’s song and dance troupe. They have one daughter. An earlier marriage for Xi fell apart after three years.
2000-2002: Governor of Fujian province.2002: Transferred to neighboring Zhejiang province, where he is appointed party chief, a post that outranks governor in the Chinese system.
March 2007: Appointed party chief of Shanghai but stays only a few months.
October 2007: Joins national leadership as one of nine members of the Politburo Standing Committee, the top leadership of the Commun Party.March 2008: Named vice president of China.
August 2011: Xi hosts then-Vice President Joe Biden on the latter’s visit to China, nearly a decade before Biden becomes U.S. president.
NATIONAL LEADER
November 2012: Replaces Chinese President Hu Jintao as general secretary of the Commun Party, the top party position.March 2013: Starts first five-year term as president of China.
FILE – Vice President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China kicks a football during visit to Croke Park Stadium, Dublin, Ireland on Feb. 19, 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping was the son of a commun revolutionary leader, a victim of the Cultural Revolution and a provincial leader who promoted economic growth before ascending to the very top a decade ago. (AP Photo/Brendan Moran, Pool, File)
2013-2014: China begins reclaiming land in the South China Sea to build islands, some with runways and other infrastructure, pushing its territorial claims to disputed areas in the vital waterway.
2017: China launches a harsh crackdown on the Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups in the Xinjiang region after extrem attacks. Mass detentions and human rights abuses draw international condemnation and accusations of genocide.
FILE – Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, Vice President Joe Biden, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and others, watch a Dragon dance students at the International Studies Learning Center in South Gate, Calif. , on Feb. 17, 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping was the son of a commun revolutionary leader, a victim of the Cultural Revolution and a provincial leader who promoted economic growth before ascending to the very top a decade ago. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
October 2017: The party enshrines his ideology, known as “Xi Jinping Thought,” in its constitution as he starts a second five-year term as leader. This symbolically elevates him to Mao’s level as a leader whose ideology is identified his name.March 2018: China’s legislature abolishes a two-term limit on the presidency, signaling Xi’s desire to stay in power for more than 10 years.
July 2018: The United States, under President Donald Trump, imposes tariffs on Chinese imports, starting a trade war. China retaliates with tariffs on U.S. goods.
June-November 2019: Massive protests demanding greater democracy paralyze Hong Kong. Xi’s government responds imposing a national security law in mid-2020 that quashes dissent in the city.
January 2020: China locks down the city of Wuhan as a new virus sparks what will become the COVID-19 pandemic.
September 2020: Xi announces in a video speech to the U.N. General Assembly that China aims to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.
December 2020: Authorities announce an anti-monopoly investigation into e-commerce giant Alibaba, the start of a crackdown on China’s high-flying tech companies.
FILE – Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping hits a giant bell during his visit to Shwedagon pagoda in Yangon, Myanmar on Dec. 19, 2009. Chinese President Xi Jinping was the son of a commun revolutionary leader, a victim of the Cultural Revolution and a provincial leader who promoted economic growth before ascending to the very top a decade ago. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win, File)
August 2022: China launches missiles and deploys warships and fighter jets in major military exercises around Taiwan following the visit of a senior U.S. lawmaker, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, to the self-governing island that China claims as its territory.
October 2022: Xi starts a third five-year term as Commun Party leader, breaking with recent precedent that limited leaders to two terms.