Xi displays "core leader" status as he kicks off second term

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Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping has begun his second five-year term by firmly displaying his "core leader" status, which equates him with founder of modern China Chairman Mao Zedong, putting himself ahead of other six top leaders for the first time in public.

"It is my will to join the Chinese Communist Party...    carry out the party's decisions, strictly observe party discipline, guard party secrets, be loyal to the party.. be ready at all times to sacrifice my all for the party and the people, and never betray the party," they said.

Yesterday's trip was Xi's first visit outside the capital since he began his second term as the most powerful leader Communist China has seen since Mao. The video also showed Xi strolling outside the historic site with other members walking behind him.

Official media quoted Xi as saying that the aim of the tour was to revisit the Party's past - especially the history of its founding - to learn from the predecessors of the revolutionary times and their noble spirit.

The tour should also serve to throw light on the responsibility the current leadership now bears, and strengthen their sense of duty to fulfil targets and missions laid down at the 19th CPC National Congress, he said.