New Delhi: Li Qiang, who took charge as China’s premier Saturday — a position second only to President Xi Jinping — is believed to have risen quickly through the ranks of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) owing to his association with the President.
Li’s choice as the country’s premier comes at a time when Xi is seen to be placing those loyal to him in top positions across the administration, further tightening his grip over China and the CCP. Li is set to replace ‘sidelined’ Li Keqiang, who served as the premier for two consecutive terms under Xi, since 2013.
That Jinping was considering Li to be the second in command became clear only in October last year, when the latter was appointed to the number-two position in the CPC politburo standing committee during the party congress.
The politburo standing committee is equivalent to the Union Cabinet or the highest decision-making body for any country.
Xi was appointed the general secretary of the ruling Communist Party for an unprecedented third term in the same congress. He was also formally reappointed as President for a third five-year term Friday.
Sixty-three-year-old Li was born in China’s Ruian City, Zhejiang Province. He holds a master’s degree in business administration, which explains his relative “pro-business” image among experts on China.
Li is expected by those who follow China to work on the economic front, especially after the downturn in China’s economic growth following the Covid-19 pandemic.
Also read: China-Russia cybersecurity ties taking darker turns. India needs to worry too
Rise of Li
Between 2004 and 2007, when Xi was the party chief of Zhejiang province, Li had been his chief of staff, loyal and a top personal aide. However, “economic reformer and rising star” Xi was moved to Shanghai in 2007 as the party secretary.
Four years later, in 2011, Li reached the position of deputy chief of the provincial committee of the CCP in Zhejiang. However, a year later, things were set to change for him, as Xi was appointed President in November 2012. Within a month, Li took over as the acting governor and vice governor of east China’s Zhejiang province.
In January 2013, he was appointed as the Governor of the province by the 12th Zhejiang Provincial People’s Congress, the local legislative body.
In 2017, he rose to the position of the party chief in China’s biggest city, Shanghai. Shanghai has produced many national leaders. This was seen by many as a strategic move by Xi to bring his loyalists to more powerful positions. This was also Li’s last position before becoming the premier of the country.
Last year, the harsh Covid-induced Shanghai lockdown made global headlines, as it invoked rare protests and public anger. A part of Xi’s “zero Covid policy”, Shanghai’s strict two-month lockdown which began 1 April resulted in people starving at homes, dying due to lack of medical help and an overall economic collapse, according to reports. Li was heavily criticised over his handling of this lockdown and being at the forefront of it. But a few months later, his appointment was seen as a sign that Xi prefers loyalty over competence.
Economic Challenges
It is not just Li’s master’s degree in business that helps him gain some confidence that he will help the country recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the country’s economy, but also his work in Wenzhou — a private business hub in Zhejiang. His experience as party chief of his native Wenzhou gives many hopes of a revival of the Chinese economy.
Also read: Who are India’s friends & foes? Modi govt is caught in a messy US-China-Russia-Pakistan jalebi
