Key Moments From Xi Jinping's Weekend as He Secures Third Term

National Correspondent

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Chinese President Xi Jinping secured an unprecedented third term as head of the ruling Communist Party on Sunday.

Xi, who took power in 2012, was awarded a third five-year term as the party's general secretary after the week-long 20th Congress of the Communist Party wrapped up on Saturday. He paved the path to rule beyond a decade when he eliminated the two-term limit on the Chinese presidency in 2018.

On Sunday, the 69-year-old unveiled the new lineup of China's all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee, promoting allies who support his vision of tighter control over society and the struggling economy.

"China's party and government are now in Xi's image, and they will proceed as Xi ordered moving forward," Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at the London University School of Oriental and African Studies, told Newsweek.

"It will focus on making China great again, double down on Xi's policies across the board, which puts politics ahead of economic management, and will get more assertive with regard to the rest of the world."

Here, Newsweek rounds up some of the key moments from Xi's weekend.

Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks during the meeting between members of the standing committee of the Political Bureau of the 20th CPC Central Committee and Chinese and foreign journalists at The Great Hall of People... Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

Former president removed

A dramatic moment from Saturday saw former Chinese President Hu Jintao, Xi's predecessor as party leader, being removed from the 20th National Congress' final day.

Speculation mounted about the reason for Hu's departure. He had appeared reluctant to move and eventually followed officials, and stopped to speak to Xi before walking off with an assistant holding him by the arm.

China's state-run Xinhua News Agency tweeted late Saturday that Hu was not feeling well and had been accompanied to a nearby room for a rest. "Now, he is much better," the tweet said.

Surrounded by loyalists

On Sunday, Xi unveiled the new lineup of China's all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee.

The six men who join Xi on the committee—Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi— lined up alongside him before assembled journalists in Beijing's Great Hall of the People.

"Xi packed the new Politburo Standing Committee with either his proteges or proven loyalists," Tsang said.

China's new Politburo Standing Committee — Li Xi, Cai Qi, Zhao Leji, Xi Jinping ,Li Qiang, Wang Huning and Ding Xuexiang attend the meeting between members of the standing committee of the Political Bureau of the 20th CPC Central Committee and... Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

'World needs China'

In a speech on Sunday, Xi thanked the party for "the trust you have placed in us."

"Now we are taking confident strides on a new journey to turn China into a modern socialist country in all respects," he said.

Xi warned that the "world needs China" but he acknowledged that China is also reliant on the world.

"China cannot develop without the world, and the world also needs China," he said. "After more than 40 years of unflagging efforts towards reform and opening up, we have created two miracles—rapid economic development and long-term social stability."