Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday named 63-year-old Li Qiang as the new premier of China during the ongoing annual meeting of the Chinese Parliament. With this, Li Qiang will take on the responsibility of managing the world’s second largest economy.
Li Qiang, governor of Zhejiang and head of the Communist Party of China’s second largest city Shanghai, has been considered very close to President Xi Jinping. His image has been that of a pro business leader. It is believed that China’s economy can improve by taking over his tenure.
Li Qiang will replace China’s current PM Li Keqiang, who retires on Monday, the last day of the Chinese Parliament (National People’s Congress) session after two and a half years in office.
Li Qiang is a close aide of Xi Jinping, having served as his chief of staff between 2004 and 2007, when Xi was provincial party secretary of east China’s Zhejiang province. He was put on track for the post of prime minister in October when he was appointed to the role of number two on the Politburo Standing Committee for a five-year term at the Communist Party Congress.
Let us tell you that after being elected President for an unprecedented third term on Friday, Xi Jinping is further consolidating power. Xi Jinping continues to appoint his loyalists to key positions amid the biggest government reshuffle in a decade.
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