As the Communist Party of China Central Committee General Secretary Xi Jinping unveiled the six other members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau on Wednesday, after the Party's most important gathering in five years, he also stressed the political orientation of China in what is now defined as a new era. [Special coverage]
If the composition of the CPC's top decision-making body is any indication, the latest lineup conveys a message of cohesion, in line with the intraparty unanimity the just-concluded 19th National Congress demonstrated.
So with Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era now the Party's guiding ideology and the CPC rallied firmly around Xi as the core of the leadership, the road map he masterminded and which the 19th National Congress approved, it is anticipated it will be faithfully followed.
Xi devoted most of his short inaugural speech after re-election as the CPC's top leader to enumerating the Party's key goals and tasks, in a year-by-year manner for most of the new leadership's term of office, displaying the same confidence he showcased while charting the course for achieving the Party's "Two Centenary Goals".
The new CPC leadership will benefit from the popular belief that attributes what the country has achieved in the past five years to its strong leadership, the overwhelming momentum of the anti-graft campaign having restored faith in the Party's capability to lead the way.
And the greatest political advantage of the new era is the solidarity the nation has displayed in answering the CPC's call for the last charge toward national rejuvenation.
To those wondering whether that support may be misused, or if it might instill a sense of complacency, Xi's answer was definitive.
He declared reform and opening-up was a key move that determined the fate of contemporary China and had brought the country to where it is, and he vowed to "unswervingly deepen reforms in all areas, unswervingly broaden opening-up, and make reform and opening-up facilitate each other, complement each other". What is worth particular notice was his "firm belief" that it is "in the process of reform and opening-up" that the national rejuvenation he envisions will be realized.
This is the direction in which the country and the rest of the world will expect the CPC leadership to stride.
Suffice it to say, the political ground has been cleared for the CPC to perform well and deliver the ever-brighter future it promises by refining its governance capacities and mechanisms under the direction of cohesive and effective leadership.
