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

During a deliberation meeting at this year's NPC session, Shan sat down with Xi again and informed him that all the components of the crane that Xi once mounted are now manufactured in China.

"Are the chips in your company's cranes domestically made?" Xi asked.

"Yes. All are made in China," Shan replied.

In the past ten years, while eliminating absolute poverty, China has built the world's largest education, social security, and medical and health care systems. China is adopting measures to provide more accessible and continuous medical and healthcare services to farmers. The life expectancy of the average Chinese increased to 78.2 years in 2021, nearly 2 years higher than that of the average American in that year.

Without Xi, China's ecological environment protection would not have attained historic improvements, observers said. The average concentration of small particles, PM2.5, in the air has decreased for nine consecutive years in major cities, with a cumulative reduction of 57 percent. The once-common occurrence of smog enveloping the skies of northern China has now become rare.

Xi pushed for green development as he tackled pollution across the board. He announced that China aims to peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. He also pushed for the ratification of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Also thanks to his efforts, China was among the first to sign the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership -- the world's largest free trade agreement -- and has expanded its free trade pilot zones from one to 21. The entire island of Hainan was turned into a free trade port.

Xi is a strong advocate of the spirit of self-reliance and self-improvement. He emphasized the need to enhance the confidence and pride of being Chinese, and the importance of promoting China's excellent traditional culture, stating that blindly following others is not the way forward.

"Are not Hollywood's films like 'Kung Fu Panda' and 'Mulan' based on our cultural resources?" he said.

Xi's reform measures have achieved "historical changes, systematic reshaping, and overall reconstruction" in many fields, ranging from the economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological protection systems, to national defense and the Party's own institutions.

He made the decision to enshrine the statement of "allowing the market to play a decisive role in resource allocation and letting the government play a better role" into the Party's documents, and led the establishment of the National Commission of Supervision, a powerful anti-corruption agency to oversee every single person in public office.

In late 2012, Xi initiated the eight-point decision on improving conduct. This is regarded as a lasting institutional solution to malaise such as squandering, indulging in pleasure, and extravagance. Through this move, Xi succeeded in curbing practices previously deemed uncontrollable.

In other aspects of institutional development, Xi oversaw the reform of the talent system to enable researchers at the forefront of science to benefit from their intellectual property rights.

A milestone CPC resolution adopted in 2021 states that the Party has affirmed Xi's core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole, and affirmed the guiding role of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.

This, according to the resolution, reflects the common will of the Party, the armed forces, and Chinese people of all ethnic groups, and is of decisive significance for advancing the cause of the Party and the country in the new era and for driving forward the historical process of national rejuvenation.

Xi considers the affirmation of his core status to be a weighty responsibility. In his words: "To honor the trust of the Party and the people, I will dedicate myself to the utmost and be willing to endure any hardship without hesitation."

Party theorists say Xi's sustained leadership in the Party and state apparatus provides direction, stability, and continuity for China's development. They said this is conducive to strengthening the Party's overall leadership and is an important manifestation of the political and institutional advantages of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Lu Man, who is an NPC deputy and head of an agricultural cooperative in Jiangsu Province, said the unanimous vote electing Xi as the Chinese president is a major outcome of this year's "two sessions." Lu added that the result is what people have been hoping for and is required to advance the Party and the state's causes.