BEIJING - Xi Jinping was granted a third five-year presidential term, during the parliamentary session on Friday, breaking a record. He consolidated his power further as China faces challenges both domestically and globally.

There were no other candidates in the election. Approximately 3,000 members of China's National People's Congress (NPC) voted unanimously for the 69-year-old Xi in the Great Hall of the People.

Xi, who has taken China in a more authoritarian direction since he became its leader ten years ago, is extending his term while dealing with increasingly tense relations with the West and the US over issues such as Taiwan, Beijing's support for Russia, trade, and human rights.

Domestically, the world's second-largest economy faces a difficult recovery after three years of Xi's zero-COVID policy, shaky consumer and business confidence, and weak global demand for Chinese exports.

China's economy grew by only 3% last year, one of the slowest rates in decades, and Beijing set a modest 5% growth target for this year during parliament.

"In his third term, Xi will need to focus on economic revival," Willy Lam, senior fellow at the Jamestown Foundation, a think tank in the United States, said. "However, if he keeps doing what he's been doing - tighter party and state control over the private sector and confrontation with the West - his chances of success will be bleak."

When he abolished presidential term limits in 2018, Xi set the stage for another term, becoming China's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, who founded the People's Republic.

China's presidency is largely ceremonial, and Xi's main position of power was extended last October when he was re-confirmed as general secretary of the Communist Party's central committee for another five years.

Xi casually chatted with premier-in-waiting Li Qiang, who was seated to his left and is set to be confirmed on Saturday to China's No. 2 position, putting the former Shanghai party chief and close Xi ally in charge of the economy.

Other Xi-approved officials, including vice premiers, a central bank governor, and a slew of other ministers and department heads, will be elected or appointed to key government positions over the weekend.

The annual parliamentary session, the first since China lifted COVID restrictions after three years, will conclude on Monday with a speech by Xi, followed by a media question-and-answer session with Li.

Xi and dozens of other top leaders on stage did not wear masks during Friday's session, but everyone else in the vast auditorium did.

China abruptly ended zero-COVID in December, following unprecedented nationwide protests against the policy. A subsequent wave infected the majority of China's 1.4 billion people, but China has not released an official death toll.

The parliament also appointed Zhao Leji, 66, as the new parliament chair and Han Zheng, 68, as the new vice president on Friday. Both men were members of Xi's previous team of Politburo Standing Committee party leaders.