Li Qiang, one of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s most trusted allies, was confirmed as premier on Saturday, as Xi asserts his influence on the country’s top leadership.
Xi’s motion nominating Li Qiang as premier was read out to the chamber on Saturday morning.
Li’s ascension had previously seemed in doubt after his handling of the Shanghai lockdown, in which residents struggled to access food and medical care.
But Li’s record, as well as widespread protests last winter over Xi’s zero-COVID policy, has been brushed aside as Xi cements his grip on Chinese politics.
Widely perceived to be pragmatic and business-friendly, the 63-year-old Li faces the daunting task of shoring up China’s uneven recovery in the face of global headwinds and weak confidence among consumers and the private sector.
Li takes office as tensions rise with the West over a host of issues including U.S. moves to block China’s access to key technologies and as many global companies diversify supply chains to hedge their China exposure due to political risks and the disruptions of the COVID era.
The career bureaucrat replaces Li Keqiang, who is retiring after two five-year terms during which his role was seen to be steadily diminished as Xi tightened his grip on power and steered the world’s second-largest economy in a more statist direction.
Li Qiang is the first premier since the founding of the People’s Republic never to have served previously in the central government, meaning he may face a steep learning curve in the initial months on the job, analysts said.
Still, Li’s close ties with Xi – Li was Xi’s chief of staff between 2004 and 2007, when the latter was provincial party secretary of Zhejiang province – will empower him to get things done, leadership watchers said.
On Saturday, Li received 2,936 votes, with three votes against and eight abstentions, according to totals projected on a screen inside the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing.
He will make his closely watched debut on the international stage on Monday during the premier’s traditional media question-and-answer session after the parliamentary session ends.
