Profile: With popular mandate, Xi Jinping spearheads new drive to modernize China

Challenges to the system are not tolerated.

According to one witness, during a plenary session of the anti-corruption agency in 2014, Xi discussed at length a vote-buying case in the election of local lawmakers in Hunan. Visibly angered, Xi fired a barrage of questions: Where have the Party members gone? Where are their notions of Party discipline and law? Where is their conscience?

Afterward, Xi referred to this case on at least two other occasions. Eventually, 467 people were held accountable.

The Chinese practice of modernization has often been viewed by observers as difficult, especially given China's massive scale -- unprecedented since the Industrial Revolution in Europe. Xi has stated that even feeding over 1.4 billion people is a significant challenge. Issues such as employment, distribution, education, healthcare, housing, elderly care, and childcare should not be underestimated, especially given the size of the population.

According to Xi, advancing Chinese modernization requires a new journey of law-based governance. The issue of the rule of law versus the rule of man is a fundamental question and major issue that all countries must address in the process of modernization, Xi said.

In a signed article commemorating the 40th anniversary of the current Constitution's promulgation and implementation, Xi emphasized the Constitution's role in constructing a modern socialist country and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

On Monday, Xi and other NPC deputies voted to amend the Legislation Law, adding content to promote the implementation of the Constitution. In 2018, Xi was the first Chinese president to pledge allegiance to the Constitution. Last week, after being elected, Xi took the oath again, followed by members of his governance team.

CHAMPIONING PEACE, DEVELOPMENT

In the second half of last year, Xi returned to "offline" diplomatic activities after the "cloud diplomacy" that characterized the two and a half years of the pandemic.

Over the past four months alone, Xi attended the G20 Summit in Bali, the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Bangkok, and the first China-Arab States Summit and the China-Gulf Cooperation Council Summit in Riyadh.

On the sidelines of the multilateral events, Xi also held bilateral meetings with leaders from dozens of countries, including France, the Netherlands, Australia, the Republic of Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Iraq.

At home, Xi hosted many foreign leaders and dignitaries in Beijing after the Party congress. The guests included leaders from Vietnam, Pakistan, Tanzania, Germany, Cuba, Mongolia, Laos, Russia, the Philippines, Iran, and Belarus. For some, this marked their first visit to China, while others were "old friends."

Over the past decade, Xi has clearly conveyed that China will create new opportunities through development and add more stability and certainty to such a volatile world.

"As it develops, China will make greater contributions to the common prosperity of the world," Xi said.