{{China\u2019s parliament named Xi Jinping as president Thursday, four months after he took charge of the Communist Party with pledges of reform that have raised hopes but so far yielded little change.}}<\/p>\n
About 3,000 delegates lined up to cast their votes in Beijing\u2019s cavernous Great Hall of the People, dropping red papers into red ballot boxes in front of giant red flags, but the outcome was never in doubt.<\/p>\n
Xi received 2,952 votes at the tightly choreographed ceremony, with one against and three abstentions, a 99.86 % share.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow I announce comrade Xi Jinping is selected as president of the People\u2019s Republic of China,\u201d said Liu Yunshan, who chaired the session at the National People\u2019s Congress, a rubber-stamp parliament.<\/p>\n
To loud applause, Xi, 59, stood up and bowed to the delegates, before shaking hands with other officials and walking off the stage.<\/p>\n
Xi\u2019s formal appointment as head of the world\u2019s most populous nation is due to be followed by the naming of Li Keqiang as premier on Friday, marking the final step in the nation\u2019s once-in-a-decade power handover.<\/p>\n
Xi\u2019s new role was effectively guaranteed by his position as Communist party leader, the real source of his authority in China, but the title will increase his public and international standing.<\/p>\n
He takes office at a time when China is becoming more assertive on the global stage and is taking a harder line on territorial rows with its neighbours, and Xi has vowed to increase its military strength.<\/p>\n
Domestically, since taking the top party post in November Xi has pledged to preserve the ruling party\u2019s grip on power by cracking down on corruption, improving people\u2019s livelihoods and pushing forward economic reforms.<\/p>\n
But despite the promises of action on multiple fronts, including pollution, observers say concrete reforms would be complex and will not be swiftly introduced.<\/p>\n
Xi last year became head of China\u2019s top military body, the Central Military Commission, unlike his predecessor Hu Jintao, who worked as President for two years before his predecessor Jiang Zemin passed on the Commission chairmanship.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn recent memory there is no comparable figure who has such power in his hand (so quickly),\u201d said Willy Lam, a politics expert at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.<\/p>\n
As the son of one of China\u2019s most famous generals, Xi has closer ties to the People\u2019s Liberation Army than Hu did and has strengthened the relationship in recent months with an unusually high number of visits to military bases.<\/p>\n
He is seen as one of the architects of China\u2019s recent more assertive stance on territorial disputes with neighbouring countries and a supporter of Beijing\u2019s military expansion, telling troops recently that they should be \u201ccombat ready\u201d.<\/p>\n
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