Xi Jinping has officially been handed a norm-busting third term as China's president, solidifying his legacy as one of the communist nation's most powerful leaders in generations.
Nearly 3,000 members of the National People's Congress (NPC), voted unanimously in the Great Hall of the People for Mr Xi to be president in an election where there was no other candidate.
Today's highly anticipated appointment by China's rubber-stamp parliament came after the 69-year-old paramount leader locked in another five years as head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) last October.
The voting lasted for about an hour and the electronic counting was completed in about 15 minutes — Mr Xi also received unanimous votes for a third term as chairman of the country's Central Military Commission.
Mr Xi has faced challenges in the months since — including mass protests over his zero-COVID policy and slowing economic growth — but those issues were avoided at this week's NPC.
Instead, the NPC focused on a sweeping revamp of Beijing's science ministry and technology capabilities in the face of what one NPC deputy described as foreign attempts at "containment and suppression" of the country's rise.
His unprecedented re-election today is the culmination of a remarkable rise in which he has gone from a relatively little-known party member to the leader of a global superpower.
While Xi Jinping's third term was long expected, experts say he is now in an even more dominant position in the Chinese party state.
"Xi Jinping is the top leader, and there are several systems under him, with the premier reporting to Xi," Dr Alfred Wu, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore told the ABC.
"The premier role will not be as important as it was.
"In the past, the party was the top leader, and the government was the second in charge … there will be only one leader from now."
Over the next two days, officials approved by Mr Xi are set to be appointed or elected to fill top positions in the cabinet.
They include premier-in-waiting Li Qiang, who is expected to be named China's second-highest-ranking official, putting him in charge of managing the world's second-largest economy.
Tearing up the rule book
For decades China — scarred by the dictatorial reign and cult of personality of founding leader Mao Zedong — eschewed one-man rule in favour of a more consensus-based, but still autocratic, leadership.
That model imposed term limits on the largely ceremonial role of the presidency, with Mr Xi's predecessors Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao relinquishing power after 10 years in office.
Mr Xi has torn up that rule book, abolishing term limits in 2018 and allowing a cult of personality to foster his all-powerful leadership.
The parliament also elected Zhao Leji as the new parliament chair and Han Zheng as the new vice president.
Both men were from Mr Xi's previous team of party leaders at the Politburo Standing Committee.
Mr Xi's coronation this week sets him up to become modern China's longest-serving head of state, and will mean Mr Xi will rule well into his 70s and — if no challenger emerges — even longer.
But the beginning of his unprecedented third term leading China comes as the world's second-largest economy faces major headwinds, from slowing growth and a troubled real estate sector to a declining birth rate.
In recent years, relations with the West have been at a low not seen in decades, with the powers sparring over everything from human rights to trade and technology.
Earlier this week, Mr Xi blamed the United States and the West for the difficulties faced by China's economy, with the remarks unusual for being directed targeted at Washington.
On Tuesday, China's new Foreign Minister, Qin Gang, warned in stark terms about the possibility of US-China frictions leading to something more dire.
"If the United States does not hit the brake, but continues to speed down the wrong path, no amount of guardrails can prevent derailing and there surely will be conflict and confrontation," Mr Qin said in his first news conference since taking up his post last year.
However, Labor's election victory last year and the appointment of Anthony Albanese as Australian prime minister has since seen a thawing in ties between China and Australia.
Dr Feng Chongyi, an expert on China who is an associate professor at the University of Technology Sydney, said Beijing will keep practising wolf-warrior diplomacy in Mr Xi's third term.
Dr Feng said Mr Xi did not follow the practice of his predecessors and made "absurd decisions" for China's fate.
"For example, if he says he's going to order a strike on Taiwan tomorrow, then he's going to have to do it down there," Dr Feng told the ABC.
He believes that Mr Xi has adopted China's imperial system to "get rid of disobedience" in his government.
"It's really very sad that such a big country is all controlled in the hands of one person," he said.
Associate professor Chen Jie, an expert from the University of Western Australia's Department of International Relations, believes the time may have come for Xi Jinping to be "pragmatic".
"China's foreign policy is actually entering a very delicate phase from now on," Dr Chen told the ABC.
China's economy and the world sanctions situation may have sent some shivers through Mr Xi's spine, according to Dr Chen.
"I think in a certain sense this tough patriotic-oriented diplomacy will continue," he said.
"My guess is that the wolf-warrior style will be tempered."
ABC/wires
