The Chinese People's Congress has elected Li Qiang as China's new Prime Minister. As expected, the almost 3000,63 hand-picked delegates voted overwhelmingly for the 67-year-old this Saturday at their current annual meeting in the Great Hall of the People. Li Qiang succeeds Li Keqiang (<>), who is leaving office after ten years.
Above all, the office is of great importance for the economy. While the president in China is responsible for the big picture, concrete economic planning is traditionally the responsibility of the prime minister. But this division has suffered greatly under Xi Jinping. He has left Li Keqiang much less room for manoeuvre and concentrated power – as in other areas.
Xi has no objections to expect
While the former premier belonged to a different political camp, Li Qiang is considered a close confidant of the state and party chief, who appointed him a high-ranking member of the Politburo last October. Already in 2007, he worked directly under Xi, when he was still party chief of the important province of Zhejiang.
Li looks back on a long career, which he spent mainly on the prosperous east coast of China. As party secretary in Shanghai, he stood up for the interests of business and at the same time solicited foreign investment. During his tenure, Tesla built a large factory in the city.
"He doesn't talk so much about ideology, but a little bit more about how to do things," said Nis Grünberg of the China Institute Merics in Berlin.
Under Li's supervision, Shanghai initially dealt with the virus less restrictively than many other regions of China during the coronavirus pandemic. However, since the metropolis could not get a grip on an outbreak in the spring of 2022, the city was finally put into a strict lockdown for two months. Politically, this has apparently not harmed Li.
Xi Jinping cements his power
On Friday, Xi was confirmed by the People's Congress for an unusual third term as president. Already at the party congress in October, the 69-year-old had ignored the previous age and term restrictions and had a permanent leadership role anchored in the party constitution. With his autocracy, he ties in with the founder of the state and revolutionary Mao Zedong, who, however, had brought chaos to the country.
The week-long annual meeting, which runs until Monday, is the scene of the largest government reshuffle in ten years, in which Xi's close confidants in particular are rising.