Xi re-elected as General Secretary of Communist Party of China

BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping was on Sunday re-elected as the General Secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China for a record third five-year term, a privilege only accorded to party founder Mao Zedong.

Xi, 69, was elected to the powerful Central Committee a day earlier by a once-in-a-five-year Congress despite crossing the official retirement age of 68 and completing 10-year tenure.

Several senior leaders including the number two leader Premier Li Keqiang either retired or failed to make it to the Central Committee resulting in a major shakeup of China's politics and government.

The Central Committee members on Sunday elected a 25-member Political Bureau which picked the Standing Committee members to govern the country.

Soon after his election, Xi appeared before the media here on Sunday along with the newly elected Standing Committee. Xi, in his brief closing remarks at the 20th Congress on Saturday, said that the revision of the Constitution sets out clear requirements for upholding and strengthening the party's overall leadership.

''Dare to struggle, dare to win, bury your heads and work hard. Be determined to keep forging ahead,'' he said.

''We must be ready to withstand high winds, choppy waters and even dangerous storms,'' he said.

''Confronted with drastic changes in the international landscape, especially external attempts to blackmail, contain, (and) blockade... China, we have put our national interests first,'' he said, apparently referring to the growing negativity against China in the US and West.