Xi Jinping was elected president of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and chairman of the PRC Central Military Commission (CMC) on Thursday. Xi was formerly the general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

The plenary meeting of the first session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) also elected Zhang Dejiang chairman of the NPC Standing Committee.

Li Yuanchao was elected vice-president of the PRC.

The post of secretary-general of the NPC Standing Committee went to Wang Chen.

Also at the meeting, NPC deputies adopted a massive cabinet restructuring and streamlining plan, which aimed to reduce bureaucracy and make the government more efficient.

Videographer: Zhang Xiao

Editor: Huang Lan

Voiceover: Chris Clark

Producer: Flora Yue