His first enrollment in Tsinghua was in 75 during the Cultural Revolution, when workers turning in blank exam papers were celebrated and admitted. His second enrollment was as a pretty senior party cadre, when he basically would have no time doing any real academic work. Many officials use such “on-the-job” phds to polish their resume. But really any average person would know they’re pretty worthless academically.

Yes, but Xi entered Tsinghua as a Worker-Peasant-Soldier student and his admission arrangement seemed to be designed for him. Even Premier Li Keqiang has a much stronger academic background than President Xi.