China is discouraging the mass media to rein in a popular nickname for Chinese President Xi Jinping. This signals that his image-makers are refining their effort to portray him as a populist hero of the masses. In recent weeks, news outlets including the official Xinhua News Agency and the 21st Century Business Herald have been cautioned against using "Xi Dada" in reports and on social media, according to people with knowledge of the matter, Bloomberg reports. Xinhua employees were told last Friday not to refer to Xi as "Dada," said one of the people, who asked not to be identified discussing internal policies. The Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission received a similar order for its publications, according to another person. Since Xi came to power more than three years ago, the name -- literally Xi Big Big, or Big Daddy Xi in his hometown vernacular -- has proliferated on social media, with videos, songs and poetry praising him as an affable father figure. While that image has helped offset perceptions of his privileged upbringing as the "princeling" son of a revolutionary leader, it's fueled criticism that the Communist Party was building a new personality cult like the one blamed for political turmoil under Mao Zedong.