A chemical engineer-turned politician, Xi, seen as a "princeling" - a term applied to senior officials who are thought to owe at least some of their success to family connections - replaces Hu Jintao in a series of carefully choreographed moves.
He has successfully cultivated a common man image that helps him appeal to a broad constituency.
He spent seven years in the remote northern community of Liangjiahe, in Shaanxi province, toiling alongside villagers by day and sleeping on bricks by night, in stark contrast to his pampered early years in Beijing.
