A leading US expert on China studies said the ongoing 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China marks a "new historic starting point", believing it will exert influence on China and the world for decades to come.

Xi Jinping set out a daring, grand vision for China's future development, which, "without doubt, is the highlight of the political report", said Robert Lawrence Kuhn, chairman of the Kuhn Foundation, referring to the report Xi delivered at the opening of the congress on Wednesday.

What impressed Kuhn was the report's "comprehensive scope" and that it "established the policies not only for the next five years, but framed the agenda and set the strategies for the next 30 years".