Xi Jinping has ambition to push through sweeping changes in China

When President Xi Jinping officiates at today's celebration of the 65th anniversary of the founding of the people's republic, two other approaching events will no doubt loom in his mind.

Top party officials gather this month for the Central Committee's fourth plenum, and next month Xi meets world leaders as China hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Beijing. Both offer Xi a platform to show his administration's progress in tackling corruption and bolstering the party's legitimacy.

The Apec summit will lend useful multinational weight to the anti-corruption drive, while the party conclave will examine the rule of law, the permanent cure Xi seeks for the corruption scourge.

The plenum is also expected to deal with the high-profile investigations into Zhou Yongkang, a former member of the innermost Politburo Standing Committee and Xu Caihou, a former vice-chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission and the most senior military officer to be charged over corruption.

The opportunities come at a crucial time: Xi has said the fight is at a crossroads and he has staked his life on ensuring its success. After 65 years, the party is struggling to outdo the former Soviet Union's 74 years of communist rule. Xi sees the anti-graft drive - and the rule of law - as more imperative than ever for keeping the party in power.

The party has battled for years over how to achieve the rule of law, with infighting periodically stopping or slowing the pace of development. Now, under Xi, the fourth plenum will work out a road map of detailed goals.