UPDATES WITH RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN'S MESSAGE
By Diyar Guldogan
ANKARA (AA) - President Xi Jinping on Wednesday secured a second five-year term as the head of the Communist Party of China (CPC), local media reported.
“I was re-elected general secretary of the CPC Central Committee,” Xi was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua news agency. “I see this as not just approval of my work, but also encouragement that will spur me on.”
Xi spoke as a new seven-man Politburo Standing Committee -- the main decision-making body of communist China -- was revealed to the public in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.
There were five new members of the Politburo alongside Xi and Premier Li Keqiang, the party’s second-ranking official.
On Tuesday, Xi cemented his position when the party congress placed his name and political philosophy into the party’s constitution alongside former leaders Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.
The move recognized his position as the most powerful man to head the country in decades and insulated him against opposition from rival factions.
The new members of the Politburo are Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji and Han Zheng, Xinhua reported.
Russian President Vladimir Putin voiced support for Xi and said in a message that the election results confirmed the political standing of Xi, the broad public support for his policy towards socio-economic development of China, as well as the strengthening of China’s international standing, according to a Kremlin statement on Wednesday.
Putin said the decision of the 19th National Congress of the CPC would help strengthen the relations of "comprehensive and trust-based" partnership between Russia and China.
He also said Moscow will continue cooperation with Beijing to boost all aspects of bilateral relations.