Beijing (PTI): China's Parliament on Friday unanimously endorsed an unprecedented third five-year term for President Xi Jinping.

Xi, 69, was re-elected by the once-in-a-five-year Congress of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) as its leader in October last year, becoming the first Chinese leader after the party founder Mao Zedong to continue in power beyond the two five-year terms.

China's legislature, the National People's Congress (NPC) often described as the rubber stamp Parliament, for its mechanical and routine endorsement of the decisions of the CPC on Friday voted on the expected lines ratifying Xi's third term.

Xi is widely expected to continue in power for life.

He has already been elected as the General Secretary of the CPC during its last October Congress, which also elected a new leadership for all its top policy bodies.

This year's annual session of the NPC is regarded significant as it heralds a once-in-a-ten-year change of leadership of the Chinese government, including the Premier who presides over the State Council, the central Cabinet.

The term of the present Premier Li Keqiang will end with this year's NPC session.
His successor, widely expected to be Li Qiang, who is a close associate of Xi, is likely to be elected by the NPC on Saturday.

All the names of the new leadership have been approved by the Plenum of the CPC headed by Xi a few weeks ago. The NPC approval is a routine formality.

The new Premier will address the annual press conference on Mar 13, the last day of this year's annual NPC session.

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New Delhi, Sep 24: The Congress on Tuesday cited BJP MP Kangana Ranaut's purported remarks on farm laws to allege that the ruling party was making efforts to bring back the three laws that were repealed in 2021, and asserted that Haryana will give a befitting reply to it.

The Congress shared on X an undated video of Ranaut in which she is purportedly saying in Hindi, "Farm laws that have been repealed should be brought back. I think this may get controversial. The laws in farmers' interest be brought back. Farmers should themselves demand this (to bring farm laws back) so that there is no hindrance to their prosperity.

"Farmers are a pillar of strength in India's progress. Only in some states, they had objected to farm laws. I appeal with folded hands that farm laws should be brought back in the interest of farmers."

In a post in Hindi along with the video, the Congress said, "The three black laws imposed on farmers should be brought back: BJP MP Kangana Ranaut has said this. More than 750 farmers of the country were martyred, only then did the Modi government wake up and these black laws were withdrawn."

Now BJP MPs are planning to bring back these laws, the Congress alleged.

"The Congress is with the farmers. These black laws will never return, no matter how hard Narendra Modi and his MPs try," the opposition party said on X.

Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate also shared the video of Ranaut on X and said, "'All three farm laws should be brought back': BJP MP Kangana Ranaut. More than 750 farmers were martyred while protesting against the three black farmer laws. Efforts are being made to bring them back."

"We will never let that happen. Haryana will answer first," she said in an apparent reference to the assembly polls in Haryana.

Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera also shared the video on X and said it was the BJP's "real thinking".

"How many times will you deceive the farmers, you two-faced people?" Khera said in a post in Hindi.

The three laws -- Farmer's Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act; The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act; and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act -- were repealed in November 2021.

The farmers' protest started at the fag-end of November 2020 and ended after Parliament repealed the three laws. The legislations came into force in June 2020 and were repealed in November 2021.