"Make or break" for a rapidly changing China?

The rest of Chinese President Xi Jinping's 10 year term could prove a "make or break" moment for the nation's monolithic Communist Party leadership, and as those leaders wrestle to keep themselves in the favor of their own public, they are also grappling for a whole new identity on the world stage.

"The current time frame that they're in right now really does represent an existential challenge to the party and its leadership," China expert Christopher Johnson told CBS News correspondent Margaret Brennan.

"They have a stove-piped, very inefficient system for running a government riding atop a very dynamic society where the economic growth is going through the roof, but we also have these environmental and other problems, and the party's legitimacy is really being called into question."

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After decades toiling away as the world's manufacturing Goliath, leaders are now trying to shift the entire Chinese economy away from its export-driven legacy toward a more domestic consumer and services-based model.

Johnson also pointed out that Xi has pushed hard since taking office to very visibly root out the corruption which is so endemic in China's governance.

That change -- in the form of an aggressive crackdown on corrupt officials -- has brought its own strains to the overall system, however.

Johnson said the anti-corruption efforts, designed to restore faith in the Communist Party, have also caused "pervasive fear -- almost paralysis -- across the government system because officials are so afraid they might be dragged away in some sort of an anti-corruption probe, that they're paralyzed from making any kind of decisions, especially at this very critical time."

Those pressures come as China wrestles with something of an identity crisis, said Johnson.

The question on many minds in the West -- and possibly even among many of the ruling class in Beijing -- is "how does China take its place as a great power, internationally," explained Johnson. So far at least, China's new leadership has exhibited a tendency to be more "forthright" in its international dealings.

That could be par for the course, said Johnson, as Xi is an inherently confident leader who clearly believes China has already risen to the very top level of geopolitics, and should act the part and be treated accordingly.

"That means defending their territorial claims, and sort of, their position as No. 1 in the region very, very assertively," said Johnson. "The U.S. is obviously trying to shape that process, and obviously maintain our relationships with our allies and partners in the region to make sure they're being treated fairly."

The key to ensuring that Beijing and Washington can continue to coexist peacefully as the former adjusts to its new-found status, according to Johnson, will be "emphasizing the traditional strengths in the relationship, which really are the bilateral economic relationship."

In other words, the fact that the Chinese and U.S. economies are so inextricably intertwined should help to keep both nations on cordial talking terms.

"What's interesting about how the Chinese mindset is changing, however, is that they are increasingly convincing themselves of the notion that we need them more than they need us," said Johnson.