Xi Jinping was elected president of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the PRC at the ongoing first session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) on Friday morning.

Thunderous applause broke out across the Great Hall of the People when the results of the elections were announced.

Zhao Leji was elected chairman of the 14th NPC Standing Committee and Han Zheng was elected vice president of the PRC.

The third meeting of the first session of the 14th NPC was held at the Great Hall of the People at 9 am.

Xi Jinping, Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Han Zheng, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi, among others, attended the meeting.

2,952 out of 2,977 deputies were present at the meeting with 25 absent, which made a quorum.

The meeting was presided over by Li Ganjie, the meeting's executive chairperson and executive chairperson of the presidium of the first session of the 14th NPC. Seated at the rostrum were the meeting's executive chairpersons Wang Junzheng, Wang Menghui, Xu Qin, Shen Xiaoming, Zhou Zuyi, Zheng Jianmin, Liang Yanshun, Yu Yunlin, and Lan Fo'an.

The meeting approved by vote the decision of the first session of the 14th NPC on the plan to reform the State Council's institutions.

As required at the meeting, the State Council shall adhere to the centralized and unified leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, and by elaborate arrangements and meticulous organization, ensure the accomplishment of the tasks of reforming its institutions.

Methods for election and decision on appointments for the first session of the 14th NPC were adopted by vote at the meeting.

Deputies adopted by vote a list of scrutineers consisting of 35 deputies. Shi Xiaolin and Lin Hong were the chief scrutineers.

At 9:27 am, the elections officially began. The scrutineers first inspected the 28 electronic ballot boxes and electronic voting systems installed at the venue. Then, ballots were distributed. Four ballots in different colors were given to each deputy. Ballots are printed in standard written Chinese language and written languages of seven ethnic minority groups.

Subsequently, deputies began to fill in the ballots. There was a private office for filling in ballots in the back area of the venue.

In accordance with the methods for election and decision on appointments, the president of the PRC, chairman of the CMC of the PRC, chairman, vice-chairpersons, and secretary-general of the Standing Committee of the 14th NPC, and vice-president of the PRC are elected through single-candidate elections.

At 9:51 am, the chief scrutineers and other scrutineers cast ballots at first, before deputies started casting their ballots. After the voting, the chief scrutineers announced how many ballots were issued and collected, saying that the ballots were valid.

Xi Jinping is unanimously elected president of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the PRC at the third plenary meeting of the first session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 10, 2023. Thunderous applause broke out across the Great Hall of the People when the results of the elections were pronounced. [Photo/Xinhua]

The staff announced the ballot count results.

The results showed that in both the elections of the president of the PRC and chairman of the PRC CMC, Xi Jinping had all the 2,952 votes in favor of him. All those present responded by standing up and clapping hands vigorously.

Li Ganjie announced that Comrade Xi Jinping was elected president of the PRC.

Xi bowed to the deputies, who paid their respects to him with a round of warm applause. Li Zhanshu and Li Qiang, who were standing nearby, shook hands with Xi to extend their congratulations.

When Li Ganjie announced that Comrade Xi Jinping was elected chairman of the PRC CMC, thunderous applause broke out again. Xi bowed to the deputies again.

Li Ganjie then made the following announcements in turn:

Comrade Zhao Leji was elected chairman of the 14th NPC Standing Committee.

Han Zheng was elected vice president of the PRC.

Li Hongzhong, Wang Dongming, Xiao Jie, Zheng Jianbang, Ding Zhongli, Hao Mingjin, Cai Dafeng, He Wei, Wu Weihua, Tie Ning, Peng Qinghua, Zhang Qingwei, Losang Jamcan, and Shohrat Zakir were elected vice chairpersons of the Standing Committee of the 14th NPC.

Liu Qi was elected secretary-general of the 14th NPC Standing Committee.

Warm applause broke out when the results of the elections were announced.

Amid the applause, Zhao Leji, China's newly elected chairman of the Standing Committee of the 14th NPC, stood up and bowed to the deputies. Then, Zhao walked up to Xi and they shook hands cordially. Xi congratulated him on his election. Zhao and Li Zhanshu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the 13th NPC, also shook hands with sincere regards.

Amid the applause, Han Zheng, newly elected vice president of the PRC, stood up and bowed to the deputies. Then, Han walked up to Xi and they shook hands cordially. Xi congratulated him on his election. Han and Wang Qishan also shook hands with sincere regards.

In accordance with the organizational measures of the presidium of the first session of the 14th NPC on the constitutional oath, the oath-taking ceremony was held after the agenda of the meeting was completed.

At 11:07 am, the bugler of the military band of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) sounded the horn on the spot.

Twelve soldiers of the honor guard of the PLA marched in two rows from the rear of the venue to stand in front of the rostrum.

All present rose. On the rostrum, three soldiers marched to escort the Constitution of the PRC and placed it on the oath platform.

Xi Jinping, newly elected president of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and chairman of the Central Military Commission of the PRC, makes a public pledge of allegiance to the Constitution at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, March 10, 2023. Xi was unanimously elected president of the People's Republic of China and chairman of the Central Military Commission of the PRC at the third plenary meeting of the first session of the 14th National People's Congress on Friday. [Photo/Xinhua]

To the accompaniment of the music by the military band, all present sang the national anthem. Xi Jinping, president of the PRC and chairman of the PRC CMC, was then invited to pledge allegiance to the Constitution.

Accompanied by the horn for the president's appearance, Xi Jinping, newly elected president of the PRC and chairman of the the PRC CMC, rose from his seat on the rostrum and walked to stand in front of the oath platform.

In the middle of the backdrop of the rostrum hangs a sparkling national emblem. Nearly 3,000 deputies to the NPC were present to witness the sacred moment.

Placing his left hand on the copy of the Constitution and holding up his right fist, Xi made a solemn pledge of allegiance to the Constitution.

"I pledge my allegiance to the Constitution of the PRC to safeguard the Constitution's authority, and fulfill my legal obligations, be loyal to the country and the people, be committed and honest in my duty, accept the people's supervision, and work for a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful," Xi said.

His sonorous voice echoed across the Great Hall of the People.

After that, Xi bowed to all and received a long and warm round of applause.

Zhao Leji, newly elected chairman of the Standing Committee of the 14th NPC, and Han Zheng, newly elected vice president of the PRC pledged allegiance to the Constitution one by one.

All newly elected vice chairpersons and the secretary-general of the Standing Committee of the 14th NPC pledged allegiance to the Constitution together.