Around the 18th Party Congress in 2012, there was speculation that the reason China's Politburo Standing Committee was being reduced in size from nine to seven members was because in the Hu Jintao era there had been perpetual stalemate over big issues. Fewer people meant a smaller group to sign off on things, and few chances of time-consuming, and sometimes debilitating, intra-elite dissent.
If that was indeed the intention, it seemed to work. From 2013, the new leadership seemed infected with a zeal to attend to everything from intraparty discipline to reforming the household registration system and doing something about the complex relationship between the central and provincial governments. Law received fresh attention, and foreign policy got a complete makeover, clarifying its contours and coming out with clear strategic guidance.
The side effect of this has been the increasing prominence of Xi Jinping at the heart of this process. He seems to have grown to such an extent that his imprint is everywhere. His words are quoted in support of almost every policy area, whether it be economic, cultural or geopolitical. Xi is recognized as a "strong leader" — the antithesis of the self-effacing, and seemingly perpetually indecisive Hu.