Explainer: How did Xi Jinping rise to power in China?

From political princeling to the People’s Leader, Xi Jinping is arguably China’s most powerful ruler since the death of Chairman Mao Zedong in 1976. Xi became Communist Party general secretary and chairman of the Central Military Commission in 2012 at the 18th Party Congress and rose to the presidency the following year. With a third term for Xi expected to be sealed at the upcoming 20th Party Congress