From village youth to leader rejuvenating the nation

A collection of photos shows how Xi Jinping grew into the leader of the most populous country in the world and offers a peek into his family moments.

1. Xi Jinping spent his early life in Beijing before moving to a village in Shaanxi province to work as an "educated youth" in the early 1970s.

2. In 1977, with a friend while studying at Tsinghua University.

3. In 1979 after Xi's appointment to the General Office of the Central Military Commission.

4. The president started his career in government in the '80s, starting as a village Party chief in northern Hebei province.

5. Later, he was appointed deputy mayor of Xiamen city in southern Fujian province, which required going on overseas trips.

6. A senior prefecture post in Fujian came soon after. Here, he is taking part in an investigation tour in the countryside in 1989.

7. Xi spent about a decade in various senior Party roles in Fujian, including as the provincial Party chief. Here, he is helping to reinforce a dyke to prevent flooding in along Minjiang River.

8. He was appointed Party chief of the industrious Zhejiang province in the mid-2000s. Here, he is preparing food for the elderly during a visit.

9. In 2007, Xi took office as the Party chief of Shanghai, the country's financial powerhouse. Here, he is chatting with hearing-impaired children.

10. Later that same year he was appointed to the Politburo Standing Committee, the top decision-making body. Here, in January 2008, he visits victims of a snowstorm in southern Guizhou province.

11. In 2008, he became vice president, a role that took him across China and to other countries. Here, he practices Gaelic soccer during a visit to Ireland in 2012.

12. Xi was elected president in 2013, which has taken him across China, including this tour of Hainan, the island province, in 2014.

13. In 1989, Xi with his wife, Peng Liyuan.

14. Xi gives his young daughter, Xi Mingze, a bike ride in Fuzhou city.

15. The family enjoys a stroll with Xi's father, Xi Zhongxun.

16 Xi with his mother, Qi Xin.

Photos by Xinhua

(China Daily USA 09/22/2015 page10)