Xi Jinping takes charge of China's economic reforms

China observers are having to get up to speed with the "new normal" now required of their divining of the nation's policymaking.

The term, aired by President Xi Jinping last month, was originally aimed at reminding people of the transitional phase that the economy has entered, marked by a slower pace of expansion and structural reforms. But the term has gained added significance with its attachment to the president himself and the marking out of a greater role by the top Communist Party leader in the economic sphere - usually the policy domain of the premier.

Xi has now indicated he is the man to set the economic agenda for the country, although political needs may deeply influence or even override planned reforms.

On Friday, Xinhua reported on a meeting chaired by Xi that discussed a grand plan for securing the country's future energy demands. For the first time, Xi was mentioned as head of a powerful leading panel that oversees financial and economic affairs, a position that had usually been held by premiers.

Government researchers told the they were not surprised by the development, given that Xi already heads a newly created panel with the final say on overall social and economic reforms.

Xi is not the first top leader to become heavily involved in economic issues, but he is perhaps emerging as the most activist leader on this front since the late Deng Xiaoping drafted the path for the opening up of markets in the 1970s.

"The president is becoming much more visible than Premier Li [Keqiang]," said Richard Harris, the chief executive of consultancy Port Shelter Investment Management.

Harris wrote on so-called Likonomics in July last year, when he forecast Li might become a strong "change leader", with shades of prominent Western economic reformers such as Ronald Reagan of the United States or Britain's Margaret Thatcher. Harris has since reviewed this assessment after seeing some of the reforms pledged by Li fall short of expectations.