He urged accelerating the adjustment of China's economic structure and the transformation of its mode of economic development, adding that the country must implement an innovation-driven strategy for future development that focuses on growth quality and performance.

As chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission, Xi said a strong military is needed for the great renewal of the Chinese nation. He has demonstrated his strategic thinking on how to consolidate national defense and build strong armed forces.

For the past four months, Xi has inspected the army, navy, air force, second artillery corps and armed police, boarding warships and combat vehicles.

During an inspection tour of the Guangzhou Military Theater of Operations in December, Xi emphasized that soldiers must be loyal to the CPC and abide by the law.

"The armed forces need to be ready to assemble at the first call of the CPC and be capable of fighting and winning any battle," Xi said while inspecting the Lanzhou Military Area.

While vowing to never allow the country's national sovereignty, security and development interests to be infringed upon, Xi reiterated that China will always remain a staunch force in upholding world peace, as the nation has suffered from wars in the past.

"We will never seek hegemony or engage in expansion," he said.

In 2012, when he met Leung Chun-ying and Chui Sai-on, chief executives of the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions respectively, Xi said he expects contributions from compatriots in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan in realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

During his February meeting with Lien Chan, honorary chairman of the Kuomintang, Xi stressed the CPC's confidence in carrying forward the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations.

The new leadership has full confidence in overcoming difficulties and creating new prospects for cross-Straits relations, he said.

"We sincerely hope Taiwan can develop along with the mainland and compatriots from both sides of the Straits can join hands in realizing the 'Chinese dream'," he said.

Xi is a well-know figure globally as he has appeared on the international stage a number of times in recent years.

Since the 1980s, he has visited more than 60 countries and regions to gain experience and seek greater opportunities for cooperation.

After he was elected vice-president in 2008, Xi visited more than 40 countries and regions and became increasingly skilled in handling complicated international issues.

Shortly after he served as the top CPC leader last year, Xi met with foreign experts working in China and sought their views and suggestions on China's development.

"China is ready to learn from the achievements of all other cultures," he said.

Since November, Xi has met delegations from the United States, Russia, the Republic of Korea and Japan, and representatives from the United Nations, the African Union and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

His confident and pragmatic approach has made him well-known among foreign diplomats.

He reassured the world of China's peaceful development with his ideas regarding win-win cooperation and mutual benefit.

Since China and the world share common interests, the "Chinese dream" cannot be realized without peace and development in the world, Xi said.

A prosperous and stable world community offers opportunities to China, while China's development presents great opportunities to the world, he said.

He called for other countries also to engage in peaceful development in order to develop peaceful coexistence.

"No country should assume that we will trade our core interests for benefits, nor will we swallow the 'bitter fruit' of harming our sovereignty, security or development interests," he said.