Determined to reform

When China began the reform and opening-up in 1978, Xi was studying chemical engineering at Tsinghua University. His father, Xi Zhongxun, was then the Party chief of Guangdong Province.

The elder Xi had high hopes for reform. He sought Deng's permission for "taking the first step" to set up a special economic zone that would break the new ground for reform.

The father's courage and sense of mission left a deep impression on the son.

In the early 1980s, as Xi senior was promoted to Beijing, Xi Jinping was sent down to work in the county of Zhengding, Hebei Province. He began his reform experiments there, starting with the rural land contract trial, being the first in Hebei to adopt this practice already tested in southern provinces.

As the county Party chief, Xi already knew how hard it was to press ahead with reforms. He was critical of the "middle-level obstruction" issue and solved it by appointing willing and competent cadres to push forward reforms.

Xi's reputation as a reformer was reinforced as he advanced his political career. In Ningde, Xiamen and Fuzhou of Fujian Province, Zhejiang Province and Shanghai Municipality, he kick-started innovative reform strategies to tackle different sorts of challenges.

"In a real sense, Xi comes from a reformer family. More important, Xi is deeply committed to reform," said Robert Kuhn, a leading U.S. expert on China and chairman of the Kuhn Foundation, adding that when they met in 2005 and 2006, Xi spoke a lot on the importance of "reform in all facets."

"Xi's reform is derived from his experience," said Shi Zhihong, a former deputy director of the Policy Research Office of the CPC Central Committee. "He knew that the rigid old paths would lead nowhere, and reform was a must."

In 2012, reflecting on China's reform cause, Xi spoke highly of Deng. "If there were no Deng who guided our Party to make the historic decision to reform and open up, we couldn't have achieved this much," Xi said.

"The reform and opening-up is a great awakening of our Party, and it gave rise to great theoretical and practical innovations," he added.

Xi's thinking and practices of reform in provinces have been compiled into books, from which observers say one can trace the roots of China's comprehensive deepening reform that is being rolled out in the new era.