Xi Jinping was born on 15 June 1953, in Beijing China, and is known world-wide particularly since 2012, when he became the ‘paramount leader’ of China, meaning that Xi holds the three primary positions of power in the country, namely General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, the President of the People’s Republic of China, and the Chairman of the Central Military Commission. On this basis, in 2015 Forbes magazine ranks Xi Jinping as the third most powerful person in the world, behind Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama.
So just how rich is Xi Jinping? Actually no assets are directly traceable to Xi and his immediate family, but authoritative sources estimate that his wider family, including his sister Qi Qiaoqiao and husband, Deng Jiagui, and daughter Zhang Yannan, have business and real estate interests valued at several billion dollars, accumulated without the help of the most powerful family member. It is worth noting that Chinese corporate and real estate disclosure rules, as well as a propaganda system, bans media discussion of leaders’ personal details and removes them from the internet. However, throughout Xi Jinping’s career, there has never been any hint of corruption in either business or politics, and he is widely respected for his efforts to stamp out corruption at all levels of government and business in China.
Xi Jinping Net Worth $Unknown
Xi Jinping’s father, Xi Zhongxun (1913–2002), from Fuping County, Shaanxi, and tracing his patrilineal descent from Xiying in Dengzhou, Henan, was a senior Communist revolutionary figure, particularly assisting Mao Zedong to found the Communist state in 1949, and afterwards holding several key positions. Xi’s education was disrupted by the cultural revolution, but he then studied chemical engineering at Beijing’s Tsinghua University from 1975 to 1979, probably more political than professional. From 1998 to 2002, he studied Marxist philosophy, again at Tsinghua University, and obtained a Doctor of Law (LLD) degree, the validity of which is, however, questioned by observers.
Xi Jinping become party chief of Shanghai in 2007, one of the most important positions in China, and a precursor to his promotion to higher positions. He was subsequently appointed to the nine-man Politburo Standing Committee at the 17th Party Congress in October 2007. In 2008, Xi was elected as Vice-President of the People’s Republic of China, and appointed co-ordinator of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, plus having an over-viewing position on Hong Kong and Macau.
In 2012, Xi Jinping was elected to his current all-powerful position, and after two years has become probably the most powerful Chinese ruler since Mao Zedong. He is now also head of the world’s largest economy, valued at close to $20 trillion. Xi has been quick to see the benefits of privatization-friendly reforms, and has fought harder than his predecessors in his anti-corruption stance, and in favor of greater economic and security alliances, thus encouraging considerable endeavour in China’s continuing economic growth.
In his personal life, Xi Jinping was married to Ke Lingling for a short period in the 1980s, and has been married to Chinese folk singer Peng Liyuan since 1987 – they have one daughter, who actually enrolled at Harvard University under a pseudonym in 2010.
