Xi Jinping's proposals for economic reform reminiscent of Deng Xiaoping

The first trip Xi Jinping took outside of Beijing as China's new leader was a high profile visit to Shenzhen. It echoed former leader Deng Xiaoping's famous "southern tour" in 1992 that triggered a period of economic reform following the stagnation after the military crackdown on the democracy movement in 1989.

After taking office in March last year, Xi engineered a number of rapid changes, differentiating himself in style from his predecessors. But before liberals could celebrate, Xi quickly showed himself to be a stalwart protector of the Communist regime. Clearly he would not become the Mikhail Gorbachev of China, with his own version of glasnost - or would he?

The announcement on December 30 that Xi would personally take charge of a new agency that will steer the country's reform agenda was a sign he was consolidating his power as supreme leader, but at the same time it signalled Xi may yet be a true reformer like Deng, at least in terms of the economy.

The so-called "Leading Group for Overall Reform" was announced at the party's third plenum last November.

Zhang Lifan , a political analyst formerly with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, says Xi's appointment makes the group the most powerful central agency in charge of reform in China's modern history. The new agency will have equal footing with the Central Finance and Economy Leading Group, which is positioned as the agenda-setter and co-ordination unit for financial and economic issues.

While the government has not yet revealed further details on the new agency under Xi, at the third plenum the president told delegates that the new "leading group" was intended to ensure that reform was carried out "smoothly and [that] all relevant tasks are fulfilled". Analysts say the establishment of the agency and Xi's leadership of it reflects the political reality that reform often comes up against powerful, entrenched vested interests and is often opposed by powerful central ministries and regional governments.

As such, true reform will not succeed unless it starts at the top and extends down the hierarchy to lower levels.