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

From the 20th CPC National Congress to this year's "two sessions," a new cohort of officials have assumed positions of governance, including members and alternate members of the Party Central Committee, ministers and provincial-level Party chiefs. Xi urged them to strive diligently and avoid letting down the expectations of the people.

According to Party insiders familiar with the matter, these new leading officials "share some common traits," including their strong abilities in terms of political judgment, comprehension, and execution.

In the meantime, the military has also completed its leadership transition, with a new Central Military Commission team and a new defense minister.

In early November, Xi visited the military's joint operations command center and called for "comprehensively strengthening military training and preparedness." He emphasized multiple times "the absolute leadership of the Party over the people's military."

According to Xi, the Party's leadership defines the fundamental nature of Chinese modernization.

Given the immense size of the Party and the country, it is impossible to achieve anything without the authority of the CPC Central Committee and its centralized and unified leadership, as well as the conformity of the nation, Xi said.

"General Secretary Xi has the charisma to unify the whole Party. He is our backbone as the nation charges ahead on the new journey toward modernization," said Cai Hongxing, president of Yanbian University, who is also an NPC deputy.