--- description: Find out why Xi Jinping is one of the 100 most influential people of 2020. title: Xi Jinping: The 100 Most Influential People of 2020 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2aeb5f2d592e65b8/698a12538fd2eeba8c361c1f/time-100-Xi-Jinping.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Sep 22, 2020 # Xi Jinping by Amanda Bennett  Xi Jinping, China's president, gives a speech during an inauguration ceremony in Macau, China, on Friday, Dec. 20, 2019\. Xi praised the work of Macau's government in maintaining stability on Friday as the former Portuguese colony celebrates the 20-year anniversary of its return to Chinese rule. Photographer: Justin Chin/Bloomberg via Getty Images Xi Jinping, China's president, gives a speech during an inauguration ceremony in Macau, China, on Friday, Dec. 20, 2019\. Xi praised the work of Macau's government in maintaining stability on Friday as the former Portuguese colony celebrates the 20-year anniversary of its return to Chinese rule. Photographer: Justin Chin/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesJustin Chin—Bloomberg/Getty Images [Xi Jinping](https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people-2019/5567763/xi-jinping/ "undefined") stands today as China’s seemingly invulnerable top leader. His anti-corruption campaign struck at kleptocrats, some in his own family, while also conveniently purging rivals. His authoritarian moves rival the world’s most extreme: corralling ethnic Uighurs into camps, suppressing violent [anti-China protests in Hong Kong](https://time.com/longform/hong-kong-portraits/ "undefined") and ushering in [powerful social-monitoring technology](https://time.com/5735411/china-surveillance-privacy-issues/ "undefined"). Completing the look is the Mao Zedong–like cult of personality Xi allows or encourages—including his own Little Red Book. The result: a foreign policy and [economic juggernaut](https://time.com/magazine/south-pacific/5007633/november-13th-2017-vol-190-no-20-asia-europe-middle-east-and-africa-south-pacific/ "undefined") expanding around the world. Still, just as the sudden fall of the Soviet Union exposed previously unseen cracks, Xi may yet come to regret that he is now effectively China’s leader for life. A shrinking and aging workforce, the cost of the global Belt and Road Initiative (built on debt, not cash) and internal griping—or worse—from victims of a slowing economy [exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic that began on his watch](https://time.com/5778994/coronavirus-china-country-future/ "undefined") mean Xi’s success may not be his final act. _Bennett is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888325/xi-jinping-china/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888325/xi-jinping-china/"},"headline":"Xi Jinping","datePublished":"2020-09-22T18:04:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:33.095Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888325/xi-jinping-china/","keywords":["TIME 100","T100 2020","T100 2020 Leaders"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2aeb5f2d592e65b8/698a12538fd2eeba8c361c1f/time-100-Xi-Jinping.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2aeb5f2d592e65b8/698a12538fd2eeba8c361c1f/time-100-Xi-Jinping.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888325/xi-jinping-china/","name":"Xi Jinping"}}]}] ```