Two rising political stars pulled off livelier-than-expected press sessions on the sidelines of the National People's Congress at the weekend, offering a glimpse into the mindset of the next generation of leaders.
Zhang Gaoli, the party secretary of Tianjin, and Zhou Qiang, party secretary of Hunan province, did not offer substantial insights into their policies, but they appeared candid and open in separate press conferences on Saturday.
The two leaders, among others, have become the focus of the annual parliamentary session because they are the next generation of leaders to take over after the 18th party congress in the autumn.
Zhang, 65, is likely to be elevated to the nine-people Politburo Standing Committee - the Communist Party's innermost power circle. And speculation is swirling that Zhou, 51, will make it to the Politburo during the leadership transition.
'In the run-up to the leadership reshuffle, some politicians on the mainland have started shaping up their personal images to gain public trust,' said Zhang Lifan, a China affairs commentator formerly with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
The session with Zhou - arguably one of the country's most promising politicians amid speculation he would become the nation's next leader in a decade - attracted a full house of domestic and overseas media on Saturday. One reporter even shouted, 'I am from Mars' in a desperate effort to obtain an opportunity to ask a question.
Zhou addressed questions from so-called naked officials, referring to Communist Party officials who stay on the mainland while their wives and children live abroad, to crack down on underground crime organisations in the province.