A survey by researchers from the University of Hong Kong's China Media Project shows that in his first 18 months of his rule, the Chinese president was mentioned in the People's Daily more than any of his predecessor, except for Mao who was involved in the Cultural Revolution. Outside official media, the pope is more popular than the premier, and the Bible is mentioned more than the Red Book.

Beijing (AsiaNews) - President Xi Jinping's name has been mentioned in the pages of the Communist Party's flagship newspaper more frequently than any other leader since Mao Zedong, this according to researchers with the University of Hong Kong's China Media Project.

In the 18 months since he ascended to the Communist Party's leadership in November 2012, Xi has been mentioned by name 4,725 times in the People's Daily, China's largest daily newspaper.

The researchers looked at the first 18 months after each leader came to power. In this period, Jiang Zemin was mentioned 2,001 times, whilst Hu Jintao's name came up 2,405 times. Xi's total was second only to that of Mao, who was named nearly 7,000 times in the 18 months after the 9th party congress in 1969 when the tumultuous Cultural Revolution was in full swing.

The research has only measured the perception or subordination of Chinese media vis-à-vis the regime. For one of the researchers, it is symptomatic of a new cult of personality in national politics. The latter had developed under Mao, but had been avoided by his successors.

However, the report found that "since the Deng Xiaoping era, there has been a gradual rise in intensity" in mentions of top leaders' names.

In terms of front-page People's Daily mentions, Xi is closest to Mao: 1,311 times vs 1,411 for Mao.

For analysts, since Xi came to power, Party media have emphasised the need to support the country's leaders," especially the president whose name appeared in 745 headlines compared to 365 for Premier Li Keqiang.

Outside official organisations however, things are very different. A survey by Foreign Policy on Weibo, the popular Chinese micro-blogging site, showed back in May that  the Bible trumps the Little Red Book, Christians far outnumber members of the Communist Party, Pope Francis is more popular than Li Keqiang and that Jesus beats Xi Jinping.

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