Xi Jinping was born on 1 June 1953 in Beijing and is, by Chinese convention, a native of Fuping County, Shaanxi. His ancestral home is at Xiying in Dengzhou, Henan. As a result of his upbringing in the Beijing environ, Xi is the first paramount leader to speak clear Standard Chinese, without any strong provincial accent. He is the second son of Xi Zhongxun, one of the founders of the Communist guerrilla movement in Shanxi Province in northern China and former Vice-Premier. At the time his father served as the head of the Communist Party's propaganda department and later Vice-Chairman of the National People's Congress. When Xi was 10, his father was purged and sent to work in a factory in Luoyang. Xi was 15 when his father was jailed in 1968, during the Cultural Revolution. Without the protection of his father, Xi went to work in Yanchuan County, Yan'an, Shaanxi, in 1969 in Mao Zed ong's Down to the Countryside Movement. He later became the Party branch secretary of the production team. When he left in 1975, he was only 22 years old. When asked about this experience later by state television, Xi recalled it saying, "It was emotional. It was a mood. And when the ideals of the Cultural Revolution could not be realised, it proved an illusion."

Xi is considered to be one of the most successful members of the Crown Prince Party, a quasi-clique of politicians who are descendants of early Chinese revolutionaries. Senior leaders consider Xi to be an emerging figure that is open to serious dialogue about deep-seated market economic reforms and even political reform, although Xi's personal political views are relatively murky.[clarification needed] He is generally popular with foreign dignitaries, who are intrigued by his openness and pragmatism. Former Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, when asked about Xi, said he felt he was "a thoughtful man who has gone through many trials and tribulations." Lee also commented: "I would put him in the Nelson Mandela class of persons. A person with enormous emotional stability who does not allow his personal misfortunes or sufferings affect his judgment. In other words, he is impressive". Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson described Xi as "the kind of guy who knows how to get things over the goal line." Former Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, commented on October 4th 2012: China's new president and party secretary general, Xi Jinping, (who) has sufficient reformist, party and military background to be very much his own man.

Xi was described in a 2011 The Washington Post article by those who know him as "pragmatic, serious, cautious, hard-working, down to earth and low-key." Xi was also described as a good hand at problem solving and "seemingly uninterested in the trappings of high office."[56] He is also known to love Hollywood films like Saving Private Ryan and The Departed.[citation needed] The Guardian noted that "perhaps more surprisingly" he also praised the independent film maker Jia Zhangke.