Most members of the ruling party’s new seven-man standing committee, which Xi heads, are older than he is and considered more conservative. Since they took command, for example, controls on the Internet have tightened considerably. Just how the more personable Xi fits into this group is a bit of a mystery. The optimists consider him to be a secret reformer whose true instincts will emerge over time. But what he truly believes, and how much authority he will wield, remains unclear. The future of reform is still unknown.

Robert Keatley is a former editor of The Asian Wall Street Journal and the South China Morning Post, both of Hong Kong.

Image: Wikimedia Commons/Bilonhw. CC BY-SA 3.0.