Chinese leader Xi's 'Chinese dream' aims to boost party: Analysts

BEIJING (AFP) - New leader Xi Jinping has urged China to pursue the "Chinese dream" but experts say behind the grandiose words, he is single-minded in his aim to bolster Communist Party rule.

The president faces myriad challenges from pollution and graft to territorial spats, unsteady growth in the world's number two economy, and widespread inequality bringing the threat of social unrest.

Xi, named as president last week by the National People's Congress, called for "the continued realisation of the great renaissance of the Chinese nation and the Chinese dream" in his first speech as head of state on Sunday.

At the close of China's rubber-stamp parliament, he laid out a vision of a stronger military and ever-higher living standards following the once-in-a-decade leadership transition that also installed a new premier, Li Keqiang.