Xi steering China to greater prosperity

'BITE THE HARDEST BONES'

In Xi's view, for China to achieve the goals in the new era, the Party' s leadership over every area is the key.

To keep the Party clean, he launched an unprecedented anti-corruption campaign, investigating 440 senior officials -- who held provincial or corps level positions or above, among others.

Overall, more than 1.5 million officials were punished.

"If we had not offended hundreds of corrupt officials, we would have offended 1.3 billion Chinese people," Xi said.

While the campaign has built into a crushing tide, Xi said it could not stop.

The action to "take out tigers" and "swat flies" continued after the 19th Party congress. Latest fallen high-ranking officials included former head of cyber-space administration Lu Wei, army generals Zhang Yang and Fang Fenghui, as well as former state councilor Yang Jing.

He also pushed forward the supervisory system reform, strengthening a centralized and unified leadership of the CPC over the graft fight.

Xi has called on officials in charge to "bite the hardest bones and catch the hottest potatoes" to tackle problems.

Xi is in the spotlight at the annual sessions of the NPC and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, commonly known as the "two sessions."

He stressed adherence to a system of CPC-led multiparty cooperation and political consultation, saying it was a new type of party system growing from China's soil and contributed to the political civilization of humanity.

Political advisor and entrepreneur Yu Minhong couldn't agree more. Yu is a member of the China Democratic League (CDL), one of the eight non-communist parties in China. But he is better known as the chairman of New Oriental, a leading education company.

For years, Yu has been helping poor rural students get proper schooling. His proposal for rural teacher pay rises led to government policy change.

Ding Zhongli, chairman of the CDL Central Committee, said the ruling party and the non-communist parties cooperated quite well under the system, working toward a common goal of national development.

Fred Teng, president of the America China Public Affairs Institute, said through the multiparty cooperation system policymakers could draw the best policies and achieve the best results.

While joining lawmakers from Guangdong province in a panel discussion, Xi highlighted development, talent and innovation.

Guangdong has been at the front-line of the reform and opening-up.

The year 2018 marks the 40th anniversary of the drive, which resulted in consistent and fast economic growth for decades.

During an inspection to Jiangsu province last December, Xi said more emphasis needed to be placed on the economy's quality rather than speed and every industry, every enterprise should follow the change.

China is setting sail toward a modernized economy with Xi at the helm.

"Xi Jinping Thought on Socialist Economy with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era" was raised at the Central Economic Work Conference last December.

The Wall Street Journal reported that China had made "Xiconomics" a guiding principle, with a focus on innovation and high-quality growth.

Areas to deepen reform include public institutions, state-owned enterprises, industrial monopolies, property rights protection, taxation, finance, rural development, social security and ecology. A modernized economy is the goal.

At the "two sessions," Xi's speeches touched more fields than economy, from Party building, rule of law, poverty reduction to environmental protection, social governance and military-civilian integration.

Internet tycoon, Tencent chairman Pony Ma said Xi's speeches were so rich that he took six full pages of notes.

"The general secretary said we should make innovation a powerful driver of quality development, and I think it is an insightful remark," he said. "It will be a new opportunity for our innovative enterprises."

Li Shumu, an NPC deputy and a village Party chief in the county of Yinan, Shandong province, said farmers in his village feel encouraged as Xi has drawn a beautiful blueprint for the countryside.

Air force officer Liu Rui said the armed forces must firmly adhere to Xi's order to make combat capability the fundamental criterion to judge their work.