It was a historic moment for China when newly elected President Xi Jinping put his left hand on the Constitution and raised his right fist to take the public oath of allegiance in the Great Hall of the People on Saturday.

After the president finished taking the public oath, the lawmakers, who had just exercised their power of election, responded with long applause.

Through such a solemn ceremony, I could feel the president's great respect for the Constitution and his people.

The president is expected to lead the whole nation to build "a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious and beautiful", just as what he said in the oath of allegiance.

Xi, a former educated youth and Party branch secretary of impoverished Liangjiahe village, Shaanxi province, is a State leader who is from the people, elected by the people, and going to "take the exam" set by the people.

He is a leader who made the solemn promise of lifting all of the country's poor people out of poverty by 2020, which will be the first time in thousands of years of Chinese history that extreme poverty has been eliminated.

He is also a leader who has launched a massive anti-graft campaign that has brought down a large number of corrupt officials, and such efforts have won wide support from the people.

In discussions with political advisers and lawmakers during the two sessions, Xi paid much attention to things related to the livelihood of the people, such as the education of migrant workers' children and the income of housekeepers.

I covered five panel discussions attended by Xi with the NPC deputies and political advisers in recent weeks, and I could feel his deep love toward the grassroots people when he encouraged them with warm words.

Xi has stressed the importance of exercising governance in line with the Constitution and the law on many occasions. While talking with lawmakers from Chongqing, Xi accepted the advice of an NPC deputy about providing more courses of judicial training for Party and government officials of all levels.

Such a solemn ceremony, with honor guards escorting the Constitution, also demonstrated great honoring of the Constitution by Xi.

On Saturday, a snowfall surprised the people in Beijing, who had long been waiting for snowy weather after the city had not seen any precipitation in recent months.

A timely snowfall promises a good harvest, and people from the whole country are looking forward to their fruitful year under the leadership of Xi, who has said the aspirations of the people to live a better life must always be the focus of the Party's efforts.

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