Previous Chinese top leaders Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao both visited Xibaipo shortly after they took office.

Xi's visit symbolized the Party's commitment to its traditions, said Prof Wang Yukai, with the Chinese Academy of Governance.

Last December, Xi chose Guangdong, which served as the testing grounds for reform and opening-up policies more than 30 years ago, as the destination of his first inspection tour out of Beijing after taking the office of general secretary of the CPC Central Committee.

"The new leaders are learning from political wisdom and experiences of their predecessors," Wang said.

President Xi Jinping (L front), visits residents of Tayuanzhuang Village in Zhengding county, north China's Hebei province, on July 12, 2013. Xi made an inspection tour of Hebei province from July 11 to July 12. [Photo/Xinhua]

Besides Xibaipo, also on Xi's schedule was Zhengding county, where Xi had been Party chief in the early 1980s.

The President dropped in the house of a local farmer, visited a village community center and the provincial civil affairs department.

The Party's performance at the grass-roots level matters very much, Xi said.

"If every CPC member and every grass-roots organ have a strong sense of responsibility and do a good job, the Party will be strong, the country will be strong and people will be strong. Thus, the Party's rule will have a solid foundation," he said.

The CPC leadership is unfurling a large-scale campaign against harmful work styles, aiming to improve Party-people relations.

At a meeting with provincial officials of Hebei, Xi asked the senior provincial officials to set the example in the campaign.

They should raise the bar higher, examine their own conduct and correct their problems with unselfishness and bravery, the president said.

Senior officials should show the people their courage and resolve to face up to their own problems and their willingness to take advice from the people as well as make actual moves, he said.

The people should be encouraged to take care of the cause of the CPC and be guided to exercise their duty of supervision, according to Xi.

While acknowledging the performance of Hebei, the President urged the province to focus on the quality and efficiency of its development, improve people's well-being and protect the environment.

The country's new leadership has sent out a clear signal that the key to the Party's rule is to improve its capacity to rule and maintain its internal vitality, Prof. Wang said.