The National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China formally confirmed the appointment of Li Qiang as prime minister of the State Council, the most important election after that of Xi Jinping, who on Friday officially kicked off his third term at the head of the China. Li, who is 63 and one of Xi’s closest collaborators, obtained 2,936 votes in favor: only three delegates voted against and eight others abstained.
Li replaces Li Keqiang, who is about to turn 68, the age at which Chinese politicians conventionally retire. Li Keqiang, in office for ten years, had positions quite distant from those of Xi Jinping on some issues, especially of an economic nature.
Li Qiang had been party leader in Shanghai, the city where last April there were large and participatory protests against the government due to the very harsh restrictions imposed (precisely through his authority) for the coronavirus. The new prime minister had been heavily criticized for his handling of that lockdown, but his October appointment to the Standing Committee had indicated that close relations with Xi had prevailed over other assessments.
Among Li’s tasks will be to revive the Chinese economy, severely tested by the three years of the coronavirus pandemic, with lower demand for exports. Outgoing premier Li Keqiang had announced a forecast for gross domestic product (GDP) growth of around 5 percent. Also due to the repeated lockdowns for the COVID, China had missed its forecasts for 2022. Last year, GDP growth stopped at 3 percent, a 40-year low and well below the estimates of 5.5 percent.
