Early Hardships Made Xi into a Man of the People

File photo shows Xi Jinping (R, rear) with his father Xi Zhongxun (R, front), his wife (L, front) and his daughter (C, front). [Xinhua]

Xinhua released Sunday a group of photos of Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee,with some rarely seen in public showing his early years, career track and family.

An old-time group photo, in which Xi slightly tilted his head to the left, offers hints of his down-to-earth style after rough years in a remote village in northwest China's Shaanxi where Xi's revolutionary father and his Communist comrades consolidated a rising power which later rules New China.

After his once powerful father was wronged and fell into disgrace, Xi, one of many urban youth, went to the village for "being reeducated" during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976).

Among Xi's harsh daily tasks were farming, coal carrying and dung collecting. But Xi, who took a case of books with him to the village, was more than a manual laborer. While in the countryside, he managed to build a methane tank, bringing his fellow villagers green energy three decades ago. It might be Xi's earliest attempt to change China's countryside.

"Be united with the people" has remained Xi's motto since he entered politics.

Xi praised the people as "the creators of history and the real heroes" and vowed to "serve the people in a whole-hearted manner" in his inaugural speech after being elected general secretary of the CPC Central Committee on Nov. 15, 2012.

He was so loved by his rural folks, who even walked with him for dozens of kilometers before he rode a train back to Beijing for an opportunity of college education.

Graduating from Tsinghua University, he left the comfortable office life after the three-year stint of working in the military headquarters in Beijing and worked in a mainly farming country 280 kilometers southwest of the Chinese capital.

In a 1983 picture, Xi puts a table out on the street, soliciting opinions from local residents including a grey-haired old woman. Xi's desire to connect with the people came far before the era of the Internet and social networking websites, which have made it easier for the leadership to maintain contact with the populace.

In a picture taken in 1988, Xi merrily carries a hoe with farmers while serving as Party chief of Ningde Prefecture in Fujian Province, a backward area in economically brisk southeastern China.

Xi's rural years helped him nurture the ability to find the weak -- even in prosperous areas -- and take care of them.

In a 2007 picture, Xi, then Party chief of Zhejiang Province, uses a long stir-frying utensil to prepare food for elderly residents of a nursing home in Qingyuan, a less-developed county in Zhejiang.

Now, the CPC led by Xi has put narrowing the income gap and realizing social justice high on its agenda.

In his inaugural speech, Xi reaffirmed his commitment to "share weal and woe with the people" and "deliver a satisfactory answer to history and the people."

Xi is a man of action and believes that "the devil is in the details."

One can trace his governing philosophy through a picture taken in August 1993, which shows Xi talking with a middle-aged woman in a classroom-like meeting hall.

The blackboard in the background features the slogan, "Avoid empty talk and get more things done."

Now Xi has elevated this concept to the state level. He warned that "empty talk leads a country astray, while hard work sees nations prosper," during his Nov. 29 visit to an exhibition in Beijing on China's challenging road to national renewal since 1840.

Xi's pragmatic work style defined his political approach before he rose to the top leadership.

Xi worked in places with a wide spectrum of social and economic circumstances: not only an underdeveloped inland place like Ningde, but also Xiamen, a vibrant coastal city and a special economic zone in Fujian Province, and China's most dazzling megacity of Shanghai.

Xi has managed a global vision since his first visit to the United States in 1985.

In February 2012, Vice President Xi went to Muscatine, Iowa, for a reunion with Eleanor and Tom Dvorchak, who hosted Xi on their farm during his first US visit.

At a luncheon in Washington, D.C. during his February visit, Xi said that China-US relations have "experienced ups and downs, but the general trend is moving forward."

"As a Chinese poet put it, 'Green hills can't block it, and after all, it is flowing eastward,'" Xi said.

The US visit came amid his efforts to build rapport with the international community.

As Party chief of Shanghai for five months in 2007 when the World Expo was in its preparatory stage, Xi met with CEOs from Siemens, Carrefour, Citibank, Standard Chartered, Morgan Stanley, Blackstone Group and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

In the past five years, Xi traveled to many countries, including Italy, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Hungary, Russia, Japan, New Zealand, Vietnam, Angola, South Africa, Mexico, Ireland and the US.

The newly-released photos also show Xi's humane side as a loving and caring son, husband and father.

In one photo, he holds the right hand of his octogenarian mother in a summer walk. Another photo shows Xi, together with his wife and daughter, escorts his wheel-chaired father.

A picture taken in August 1987 shows Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan posing in front of a temple on Dongshan Island in Fujian.

Peng, a celebrated soprano, has described her husband as a "responsible" husband and father.

She said Xi likes swimming and mountain climbing, and sometimes stays up late to watch televised sports games.

The couple have a daughter named Xi Mingze, whom they hope will live an honest life and make a contribution to society.

A young Mingze, in one of the photos, is taken by her joyous father on the back seat of a bicycle when Xi worked in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian.