On June 7th, 2013, President Xi Jinping and President Obama met at the Annenberg Retreat in California for what was called an informal summit. It was the first meeting between the two leaders since Xi became China's president in March.
President Xi Jinping was born in 1953, 8 years before President Obama.
After Xi Jinping became the President of China, he has put great effort into the anti-corruption campaign, and over 100 ministerial governmental officials have been caught. “Cracking down on both tigers and flies” has become a nationally well-known quote.
President Xi Jinping starts his presidency promising to deliver a "Chinese dream" of national rejuvenation in March, 2013: "The Chinese dream is a dream of the whole nation, as well as of every individual. All Chinese people deserve equal opportunities to enjoy a prosperous life, see their dreams come true and benefit together from the country's development."
On Nov. 9, 2014, President Xi Jinping stressed at the CEO Summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) that the Chinese economy is seeing a "new normal" emerging with several notable features: growth having become "more stable and being driven by more diverse forces," structure having been "improved and upgraded," and the government having "vigorously streamlined administration and delegated power”.
Xi Jinping's father Xi Zhongxun was in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and China's War of Liberation. Xi Jinping joined the army for 3 years at the age of 26.
President Xi Jinping pays a lot of attention for growth of youth. In May 2014, Xi came to Peking University and talked to teachers and students that youth are in a critical time of developing value systems, "the buttons of life have to be buttoned up from the beginning".
"History is the best textbook, as well as the best dose of sobriety. Chinese people who remember the torment of war have always been in pursuit of peace. History tells us that any aggression by force is doomed to fail," Xi warned. "China will unswervingly pursue the road of peaceful development and hope all other countries in the world can take the same road," Xi said at the ceremony commemorating the start of China's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression on July 7, 2014.
In 1985, Xi Jinping who was still working in Zhengding County, north China's Hebei Province, led a delegation to Iowa State for corn-growing experience. This was the first time Xi visited the United States.In 2012, 27 years after their first met, Xi revisited here to see his old friends.
On Nov. 12, 2014, China and the U.S. hailed a Joint Announcement on Climate Change to strengthen joint efforts to tackle climate change signals and provide a driving force for global sustainable development.
President Xi Jinping once said, "I have a lot of hobbies, but I love reading the most, reading has become a lifestyle of mine." Xi went to rural places to work and live at the age of 16, "loves reading" and "fond of learning" are the major impression Xi left on fellow-villagers. They remember that Xi brought a box of books to the village, read books as thick as bricks, sometimes even read while eating.
Xi Jinping likes all kinds of sports. When he visited the US as the Vice President of China in 2012, Xi watched a NBA game Lakers vs. Suns. After the game, Xi was given a Lakers jersey with his name on it as a gift.
China will cut the number of its troops by 300,000 and China will never seek hegemony but protect the peace of the country and the world, President Xi Jinping said at the V-Day military parade.
President Xi Jinping came up with the idea for a new model of major-country relationship between China and the United States when he and Obama met at the Annenberg Retreat. Xi said that China and the United States could work to enhance mutual respect and hold firm to the bottom line of no conflict and no confrontation.
President Xi Jinping came up with the proposals to build the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. These proposals are in accordance with the concept of cooperation and development. China will develop economic partnerships with countries alongside to build a community of shared destiny, interests and responsibilities.
China makes great contribution to global poverty reduction work. China has contributed 93.3 per cent to global reduction of poverty population from 1981 to 2010. According to the latest statistics in 2015, there are 70.17 million people who live in poverty in the countryside. Xi stated that China should let all impoverished people go out of poverty by 2020. Xi consecutively inspected underdeveloped areas in China on the eves of Chinese New Year since took office and extended Spring Festival greetings to the public.
President Xi Jinping likes to quote from Chinese and foreign classics. In Xi's speech to urge improvement in China-U.S. relations, Xi cited a line from Nevertheless, a poem written by an American poet Marianne Moore, that “Victory won't come to me unless I go to it”.
Xi Jinping spontaneously applied to work in the countryside in northwestern China in 1969 when he was under 16. In those seven years, Xi lived in cave dwellings, slept on earthen beds and lived and worked with villagers there. Xi said that it was a valuable experience for him to live in tough conditions in the countryside. "I understand what reality is. What is seeking truth from facts and what are the masses from my life experience in rural areas," Xi stated, "Furthermore, I gained confidence from life there."
Xi Jinping is a soccer fan. Xi said that he has three wishes that Chinese team can be qualified for FIFA World Cup, that China can hold FIFA World Cup and that China can win FIFA World Cup.
He graduated from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Tsinghua University with a major in Marxist theory and ideological and political education, has an in-service postgraduate education and holds the degree of Doctor of Laws.
Chinese call Xi Jinping "Xi Dada" (Uncle Xi). Xi is a Shaanxi native. In Shaanxi dialect, Dada means uncle.
In exclusive comments to the Washington Post in February 2012, Xi Jinping said the vast Pacific Ocean has ample space for China and the United States.
Xi's wife Peng Liyuan is an artist and public-spirited. She is a WHO Goodwill Ambassador for tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. Peng has been named as UNESCO Special Envoy for the Advancement of Girls’ and Women’s Education.
The surname Xi came after the name of a Chinese vassal state Xi located around Danfeng county, northwest China's Shaanxi province during the Shang and Zhou dynasties and the Spring and Autumn period. Xi's father was born in Fuping county, Shaanxi province.
Xi Jinping met with Obama at Yingtai in Zhongnanhai in Beijing on the night of Nov. 11, 2014. Xi introduced the history of Yingtai to Obama. Xi pointed out that it is of great importance to learn Chinese history up to modern times in order to understand current Chinese dreams and development approaches.
Xi Jinping thinks highly of communication with people through the media. Xi published 232 short commentaries on Zhejiang Daily under the pseudonym of Zhexin in the column of Zhijiang Xinyu when he was the Secretary of the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee.