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William Langley

Family portraits, travel snaps and military memories were on display for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s New Year’s address on Thursday night, as the annual broadcast delivered a message of seasonal cheer and party loyalty.
The selection of the photos stressed his credentials as a family and party man.
Xi gave his speech from behind a desk, with a picture of the Great Wall of China and the national flag behind him flanked by bookcases decorated with photographs of him with his family and the public.
Xi spoke of how China had overcome the Covid-19 pandemic and rebooted its economy after the country almost ground to a standstill because of the government’s lockdown measures.


The photograph display was highlighted in an interactive article by state broadcaster CCTV.
“Xi Jinping greatly values family life and family education,” it said in its introduction to a family portrait of Xi with his wife Peng Liyuan and daughter Xi Mingze.
“The family is life’s first classroom, parents are a child’s first teacher,” it said, quoting Xi’s own words.
The report said many of the photos had never been shown in public before.
There were several other photos of Peng, both with Xi and on her own. China’s leaders tend to keep details of their family lives private so the exposure given to Peng, a former professional singer, was unusual.

Xi has given a New Year’s address annually since 2013. The photos placed on the bookshelf behind him were carefully chosen to promote an image of him as a leader of the people. One showed him at a tea plantation in Yunnan province, another chatting to soldiers in their barracks.
Xi was also shown as a leader in combating the coronavirus pandemic.
“In the photo, he [Xi] is holding his fist in a gesture of ‘add oil’ to encourage the medics of the nation: ‘you must have faith! We will definitely be victorious’,” read the caption for a photo of Xi talking to medics at Beijing Ditan Hospital in February.

Another showed him visiting Wuhan in March, where China’s coronavirus outbreak began.
Xi’s father, Xi Zhongxun, a former general in the People’s Liberation Army, also featured prominently. One photo showed the two Xis together in Hainan in 1979, while Xi Jnr was a student at Tsinghua University in Beijing. A biography of Xi’s father was positioned behind the photo.
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The photos of Xi with his father, along with others showing a young Xi in military uniform, appear to stress his lifelong ties to the Communist Party, a theme also prevalent in his speech.
“2021 will see the 100th birthday of the Communist Party of China … Upholding the principle of putting people first and remaining true to our founding mission, we can break the waves to reach the destination of realising the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” he said.
“Its 100-year journey surges forward with great momentum.”


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Xi Jinping

Xi Jinping framed as man of the people and the party in New Year’s speech

Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers his New Year’s address from Beijing. Photo: AP

CCTV release a website showing the photographs of the room where Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a New Year's address in Beijing. Photo: CCTV

Chinese president Xi Jinping visiting residents and people at the novel coronavirus prevention frontline at a community, East Lake New Town, in Wuhan city, central ChinaÕs Hubei province, on Tuesday Mar. 10, 2020. (Xinhua)

Xi Jinping lauds China’s post-coronavirus economic growth in New Year’s message

Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a New Year address on Thursday evening. Photo: Xinhua

FILE - In this Sept. 24, 2015 file photo, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Vice President Joe Biden walk down the red carpet on the tarmac during an arrival ceremony in Andrews Air Force Base, Md. Chinese leaders hope Washington will tone down conflicts over trade, technology and security if Joe Biden wins the Nov. 3 presidential election. But any shift is likely to be in style, not substance, as frustration with Beijing increases across the American political spectrum. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

(200415) -- WUHAN, April 15, 2020 (Xinhua) -- A medical worker from the Peking Union Medical College Hospital waves the Chinese national flag in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, April 15, 2020. The last medical assistance team started leaving Hubei Province Wednesday as the COVID-19 epidemic in the hard-hit province has been subdued. The medical team consisting of over 180 medical workers from the Peking Union Medical College Hospital arrived in the provincial capital of Wuhan on Jan. 26. (Xinhua/Xiong Qi)

China-EU investment deal: leaders conclude marathon negotiations via video link

(Clockwise from top left) Chinese President Xi Jinping, European Council President Charles Michel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel take part in a videoconference on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng answers questions during a Ministry of Commerce (MofCom) press conference in Beijing on December 30, 2020. (Photo by Noel Celis / AFP)

(FILES) In this file photograph taken on June 29, 2015, a Chinese flag (L) is draped beside the European Union (EU) flag during a EU-China Summit at European Union Commission headquarters in Brussels. - EU member states give political backing to Brussels' efforts to negotiate an investment pact with China on December 28, 2020, diplomats said, clearing the way for a deal. At a meeting of ambassadors, one said, the German EU presidency noted no member had "raised a stop sign and the way for a political endorsement was thus cleared." (Photo by THIERRY CHARLIER / AFP)

epa08911225 French President Emmanuel Macron (R) attends a EU-China video-conference meeting along with Chinese President Xi Jinping, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and President of the European Council Charles Michel, who were all tuning in on video link, at the Fort de Bregancon in Bormes-les-Mimosas, southern France, 30 December 2020. EPA-EFE/SEBASTIEN NOGIER / POOL

European Council President Charles Michel looks on during a video conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese President Xi Jinping, in Brussels, Belgium December 30, 2020. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/Pool

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President flanked by photographs of himself and family
Photo display was highlighted in an interactive article by state broadcaster CCTV



President flanked by photographs of himself and family.


China’s Communist Party

Xi Jinping framed as man of the people and the party in New Year’s speech

President flanked by photographs of himself and family Photo display was highlighted in an interactive article by state broadcaster CCTV

President flanked by photographs of himself and family

Photo display was highlighted in an interactive article by state broadcaster CCTV