
Jinping dikenal karena sikap kerasnya terhadap korupsi dan keterbukaannya mengenai reformasi politik dan ekonomi pasar di RRT. Posisinya di kancah perpolitikan Cina membuatnya menjadi penerus kelima, menggantikan Hu Jintao, sebagai Sekretaris Jenderal dan pemimpin tertinggi dari Partai Komunis Tiongkok. Xi Jinping menyatakan bahwa kepemimpinannya ini akan digunakannya untuk memajukan kembali perekonomian Republik Rakyat Tiongkok, bersama dengan enam anggota papan atas partai lainnya, termasuk anggota baru Li Keqiang dan Wang Qishan. Tujuh anggota kelompok "Komite Tetap Politburo" dan beberapa organisasi lainnya memprediksikan bahwa di bawah kepemimpinannya, Cina akan kurang progresif.

Following the dismissal of Chen Liangyu, Xi transferred to Shanghai as the Party Secretary for a brief period in 2007. Xi joined the Politburo standing committee and central secretariat in October 2007, and was Hu Jintao's successor. Xi served as vice-president, from 2008 to 2013. Xi has attempted to legitimize the authority of the Communist Party, by introducing far-ranging measures to enforce party discipline and to ensure internal unity, as well as initiating an unprecedented and far-reaching campaign against corruption. Xi's anti-corruption campaign has led to high-profile arrests such as General Xu Caihou. Xi has also imposed further restrictions over ideological discourse, advocating the concept of "internet sovereignty".
Considered the primary figure of the People's Republic's fifth generation of leadership, Xi has significantly centralized institutional power by taking on a wide range of leadership positions, including chairing the newly formed National Security Commission, as well as new steering committees on economic and social reforms, military reform, and the Internet. Xi has called for further market economic reforms, for governing according to the law and for strengthening legal institutions, with an emphasis on individual and national aspirations under the neologism "Chinese Dream". Xi has also championed a more assertive foreign policy, particularly in relation to Sino-Japanese relations, China's claims to the bulk of the South China Sea, involvement in Asian regional affairs, and initiatives related to energy and natural resources.