HONG KONG — The announcement that the Chinese Communist Party intends to drop a two-term limit on the presidency is the latest sign that Xi Jinping is moving to strengthen the authority of the government and his position atop it.

By upending a model of collective leadership that was put in place after the excesses of one-man rule and the power struggles that followed the deaths of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, President Xi has shown a determination to rewrite the rule book but also to reimpose older norms of a strong single leader ruling China. The prospect that he will rule for years to come has raised concerns about oppression at home and potential truculence abroad.

Mr. Xi, the son of Communist Party elite, came to power with a long history of working his way up the ranks of officialdom, deftly sidelining rivals and rolling over dissent as he cultivated alliances and strengthened his control over the government, the economy and the military.

Here is a guide to The New York Times’s coverage of the key moments of his life and political career.