As an emerging superpower, China is undergoing major changes. Still, its new leader seems to be drawing inspiration from the past to deal with one of the country's most pressing issues: corruption among party officials.

President Xi Jinping is harking back to the legacy of late Chairman Mao Zedong in an attempt to "clean up" the ranks of the 80-million-member Communist Party of China (CPC) amid public growing consternation over inequality and corruption.