Another Li set to take over as premier

Shanghai party leader Li Qiang, 63, is set to become China's next premier and oversee the nation's economy, as he became the second-ranked leader in the politburo standing committee unveiled yesterday.

With Premier Li Keqiang, 67, retiring in March, Li is set to succeed him.

A Yangtze Delta veteran with decades of experience and Shanghai's party secretary since 2017, Li is the highest in line among four new faces in the politburo.

Traditionally, the second-ranked member of the politburo becomes the premier and heads the State Council.

Li will become a "shadow premier" within the coming weeks and work with Li Keqiang for four months before the official takeover.

Li had worked in the Zhejiang civil affairs department for 12 years before his promotion to the position of deputy chief. He then became party secretary of Yongkang in 1996 and Wenzhou in 2002.

When Xi Jinping was party secretary of Zhejiang, Li was his chief secretary.

In 2012, Li succeeded the present director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, Xia Baolong, as the new party secretary for Zhejiang.

Li has won praise for pushing forward e-commerce and IT-related businesses in the province. During his three-year tenure, Zhejiang won the right to host the 2022 Asian Games, which has been re-scheduled for next September due to the pandemic.

He was relocated to Jiangsu in 2016, where, as party secretary, he had introduced strict measures, including an alcohol ban for civil servants during work events.

He joined the politburo in the 19th party congress in 2017 and became party secretary of Shanghai that same year.

When Li inspected residential areas in Shanghai, he was reprimanded by the city's 25 million residents, displeased over Covid-19 lockdowns and mass PCR testing that had been levied on them for over two months, starting in March. On June 25, Li announced a "victory of the Shanghai defense war [against the pandemic]" as outbreaks eased. He defended the stringent anti-Covid measures and said history will show people's efforts and determination to overcome the epidemic.

Key economic officials Li Keqiang, economic tsar Liu He, 70, central bank governor Yi Gang, 64, and banking regulator Guo Shuqing, 66, were dropped off the list of 376 full or alternate members of the central committee of the Communist Party of China.

Meanwhile, several younger officials who were formerly deputy governors at the People's Bank of China made it to the list for the first time.

Yi Huiman, currently the head of the securities watchdog, was also promoted to full membership of the central committee, which may pave the way for him to take on a bigger role in the government.

He Lifeng, head of the nation's powerful planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission, retained his full membership of the central committee.

Seen as a close confidante of Xi, analysts have speculated that He, 67, could replace Liu He as a economic tsar.

In the Politburo Standing Committee, incumbents Zhao Leji and Wang Huning will remain as third and fourth in ranking.

Zhao, 65, is expected to become leader of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, while Wang, 67, is set to head the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

The fifth to seventh positions are held by new faces, all of whom joined the politburo in 2017.

Cai Qi, 66, ranked fifth, has been Beijing's party secretary since 2017.

Cai was also president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

Ding Xuexiang, 60, has headed the general office of the central committee as well as the party general secretary's office.

Li Xi, 66, who has been the Guangdong party secretary, is now the head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the party's anti-corruption body.