How is China's new leadership, led by President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, doing? To begin with, Xi and Li have projected a distinctly fresh style of governance, which the world media have lauded, because it portends the coming of a new benchmark for good governance.

The two leaders have two things going for them. They are secured in and supported by the achievements of their predecessors. And since they are already seasoned and do not have a new job-learning curve ahead of them, they have been able to put together the necessary talents and priorities to set the nation in a new direction.

Xi has focused on international affairs, visiting Russia, Tanzania, South Africa, the Republic of Congo, and attending the fifth BRICS summit in Durban. Then, as a natural multilateral diplomatic sequel, he met a host of key international leaders at the 2013 Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan province.