President Xi Jinping appeared at Saturday's state banquet hosted by the Dutch royal family in a formal traditional Chinese suit, which experts say displayed the leader's national pride and confidence in Chinese culture。

The eye-catching dark blue suit, slim-cut with a standing collar, is a simplified and redesigned "Zhongshan suit", or "Mao suit" - a typical formal garment for Chinese men。

Zhou Jiali, a diplomatic protocol expert from China Foreign Affairs University, said Xi's attire not only meets international diplomatic norms, but also manifests China's ethnic style。

"President Xi's outfit at the banquet is not strictly a Zhongshan suit, which normally has four pockets. Instead, it is a type of modified Chinese standing-collar outfit," Zhou said in an interview with a Chinese newspaper。

"The entire design goes with Chinese style, but some subtleties are tinged with a modern tailoring spirit. For example, a Western-style pocket square was designed at the left chest," she said。

Lu Peixin, former acting head of the Protocol Department of the Foreign Ministry, said the decorative color of Xi's suit pockets matched the embroidery color of first lady Peng Liyuan's traditional overcoat。

"In addition to exhibiting the beauty of Chinese culture, the outfits of Xi and Peng also create a harmonious and vivid impression of a 'lovers pack'," Lu said。

In the fashion world, the traditional qipao dress portrays a Chinese woman's beauty, and Zhongshan suits represent a man's status。

"Foreigners will interpret the Zhongshan suit as a political symbol because it has typical Chinese connotations," said associate professor He Yang at the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology。

"It came out during a period when Western culture entered China in 1920. The Mao suit was a fusion of fashion and culture. It had an outline of a Western suit, but it had Chinese elements," said Liu Yuanfeng, dean of BIFT。

The blue and gray suit was the only choice for Chinese men. It dominated local menswear from 1920 to 1980. That was why many people in the Western world thought China was a "gray society", because nearly all the men wore gray Zhongshan suits。

Chairman Mao Zedong popularized it, so the garment became known in the West as the "Mao suit"。

After the reform and opening-up in 1978, Chinese people had more choices in clothing, and Western suits became popular. With foreign fashion brands coming into the Chinese market, fewer and fewer local people were interested in the Mao suit and its connotations。

Even so, there are some older people who still own one or two Mao suits. Chinese leaders, including Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin, continued to wear them on important occasions, such as the nation's anniversary celebrations。

BIFT's Liu has seen a revival of the Mao suit over the past few years. He said there are many young designers and local fashion companies that want to popularize it again。

When then president Hu Jintao inspected the country's defense forces in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 2009, he was wearing a gray Mao suit in Tian'anmen Square。

The suit he wore has all the characteristic elements of a traditional Mao suit, but was designed in a Western style. It was slim cut in a three-dimensional way - a modern technique in fashion。

"It was a redesigned one. Modern Mao suits will become very popular during business occasions, as it looks formal and represents China," said Xia Hua, chairwoman of Eve Enterprise Group, which was in charge of making Chinese leaders' clothes for the ceremony.

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3月22日，在荷蘭王室舉行的國宴上，習近平主席身著一套正式的傳統(tǒng)中國服飾，專家稱這一舉動展示了國家領導人的國家自豪感和對中國文化的自信力。

這套中山裝是藍黑色，立領精致剪裁，樣式更加簡潔，是對傳統(tǒng)“中山裝”的重新設計，非常吸人眼球。這是中國男性參加正式宴會的典型服飾。

周加李是來自外交學院的外交禮儀專家，她說習近平主席的穿著不但符合國際外交的標準，還具有典型的中國民族特色。在接受一家中國報社的采訪時，說道：“習近平主席的服飾不是標準的中山裝，通常有四個口袋。相反，那是一套改良版的中式立領服裝。整個設計符合中國風格，但某些細節(jié)處又具有現(xiàn)代剪裁特色。比如，在左胸處設計了一個西式方形口袋。”

外交部前禮賓司代司長魯培新說，習近平衣服口袋上的裝飾性色彩與夫人彭麗媛傳統(tǒng)大衣上的刺繡顏色相得益彰。“除了展示中國文化之美，主席和夫人的服飾搭配和諧，仿佛一套給人印象深刻的情侶裝。”

時尚界認為，傳統(tǒng)的旗袍展示中國女性之美，而中山裝則代表男性的地位。

北京服裝學院[微博]副教授賀陽說：“外國人認為中山裝是禮貌的象征，因為具有典型的中國內涵。“該學院院長劉元風說：“20世紀20年代西方文化傳入中國時，中山裝開始出現(xiàn)。中山裝是時尚和文化的融合，有西式服裝的輪廓，但是又有中國元素。”

中國藍灰色的服飾曾經(jīng)是中國男性的唯一選擇，1920-1980年，它主宰了中國的男裝。因此，西方國家很多人認為中國是個“灰色的社會”，幾乎所有中國男性都穿灰色的中山裝。

毛澤東主席使中山裝流行起來，因此“毛裝”在西方聞名。

1978年改革開放后，中國人民在服飾方面有了更多的選擇，西式服裝開始流行。隨著外國時尚品牌涌入中國市場，越來越少的中國人對中山裝感興趣，也不再關注它的內涵。

即使這樣，還是有些上了年紀的人仍然保留一兩件中山裝。包括鄧小平和江澤民在內的中國領導人，出席重要場合，比如在國慶儀式上，仍繼續(xù)穿中山裝。

北京服裝學院的院長在過去幾年看到了中山裝的復興。他說有許多年輕的設計師和當?shù)氐臅r尚公司想使中山裝重新流行起來。

2009年中華人民共和國建國60周年的慶典上，胡錦濤主席在天安門廣場視察國防力量時，穿了件灰色的中山裝。那件服裝具有傳統(tǒng)中山裝的所有元素，但設計具有西方風格，立體剪裁，獨具現(xiàn)代時尚感。

依文集團總裁夏華女士負責慶典上國家領導人的服飾，她說：“那套衣服是對傳統(tǒng)中山裝的再設計。中山裝在商業(yè)場合會變得非常流行，因為看起來很正式，還代表了中國的形象。”