Xi arrives in Australia on the back of APEC, where a display of deft diplomacy, deal-making and evident ambition has already been cautiously cast as a pivotal moment in China's push for more influence on the international stage.

In cultivating an image as a strongman at home and overseas, Xi, 61, has convulsed party ranks with a pervasive campaign against corruption, and tightened control on the military and matters of national security while outlining key economic reforms.

He has unnerved China's neighbours with a tendency towards nationalistic rhetoric and emphasis on military proficiency – backed up by an increased military budget. A crackdown on dissent has marginalised liberal intellectuals and drawn condemnation from human rights groups.

While tightening control of state media, he has also shown innovative use in party propaganda in an apparent attempt to reach younger audiences on social media – endorsing cartoon portrayals of himself and sanctioning a nickname, "Xi Dada": literally "Xi Big Big", an affectionate term for older men, roughly translating to Uncle Xi.

Xi's father, Xi Zhongxun, was a revolutionary war hero, and when he was a young boy the family lived behind a walled compound near the Forbidden City. But his father was purged by Mao Zedong and the younger Xi was one of millions of Chinese youths sent down to the countryside, living in a cave home. Any shred of privilege was stripped away for seven formative years, before his father was rehabilitated.

Xi is more familiar with Australia than most world leaders, having first visited in 1988 as a fresh-faced 34-year-old vice-mayor of Xiamen. After stopping by in Tasmania on this trip, his fifth to the country, he will have visited all eight states and territories.

His official visit after the G20 summit will be headlined by the likely conclusion of a free-trade agreement, the unveiling of Sydney as a renminbi trading hub, and a landmark address to the Parliament. But beyond the pageantry, the longer-term implication for the Australian government remains. Key economic and strategic decisions that will be framed as a choice between China and the United States – such as Australia's reticence in joining the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank – will arise with increasing frequency.

"Australia and China are going to be increasingly close in all sorts of ways and as that happens, we're going to rub up against each other and have problems and issues," says Richard Rigby, a former Beijing-based diplomat and ONA analyst, now an associate director at the Australian Centre on China in the World.

Despite long-standing rifts with the United States, Xi has shown a willingness to work with US President Barack Obama, unveiling a deal on curbing greenhouse gases, including a pledge by China to cap and then reduce carbon emissions by 2030.

On the sidelines of the APEC forum, Xi met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for the first time, in a major breakthrough for a potential thaw in the relations between the countries, even if the frostiness between the pair bordered on the comical. Tensions with South Korea and Vietnam have also been tempered.

It may be that China is temporarily lowering the temperature in the East China Sea after being surprised by the blowback, while embarking on a different tact – an economic charm offensive banked by reserves of more than $US4 trillion.

As well as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, seen as a rival to the established institutions of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, China is throwing cash and resources behind a BRICs bank, a Silk Road fund, and loans to south-east Asian nations.

"Xi thinks personally that the time has come for China to be more assertive in regional arrangements and start to refigure a new order based on the reality of China's size and place in the world," says Geoff Raby, a former Australian ambassador to China.

Xi's first visit to Australia in 1988 was organised under the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's Special Visits Program, with Australian diplomats cognisant that his lineage would probably enhance his career prospects. Among his companions was Zhang Junsai, who went on to become ambassador to Australia.

"I was in my prime," Xi said, reflecting on his first visit during a return to Melbourne in 2010, when he was a vice-president earmarked for leadership. "We were not familiar with Australian rules football so the [only] sports we did in Melbourne was to swim at the beach."

Xi did acquaint himself with AFL on his 2010 trip, watching Carlton play Fremantle at Docklands. And in a possible nod to his childhood, he asked to see Aboriginal caves in the Northern Territory.

But the trip was most memorable for coinciding with the first episode of the Labor government's leadership spills. Having been greeted by Kevin Rudd on his arrival, Xi left the country with Julia Gillard installed as prime minister.

Close watchers of China point out that Xi's greatest threats, too, lie close to home. Unrest in Tibet, Hong Kong and Xinjiang rank highly among the party's domestic problems, while the length and breadth of Xi's corruption campaign has made powerful figures in the party nervous, worried anyone could be next.