Beijing; During the ongoing annual session of China's rubber-stamp parliament, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday proposed Li Qiang for the position of premier, which entails overseeing the second-largest economy in the world.
After serving two five-year terms, Li Keqiang, the former head of the Communist Party in Shanghai, the largest city in China, will step down during the session of the National People's Congress that ends on Monday.
Xi's close ally Li Qiang, 63, served as his chief of staff from 2004 to 2007 while Xi was the Zhejiang province's provincial party secretary in eastern China.
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The incoming Li, who is widely regarded as pragmatic and pro-business, will have the difficult task of supporting China's uneven economic recovery after three years of COVID-19 curbs, low consumer and private sector confidence, and global headwinds.
He will assume office in the midst of escalating Western tensions, including US efforts to deny China access to crucial technologies, and as many multinational corporations diversify their supply chains to reduce their exposure to China in light of political risks and the disruptions of the COVID era.
China's economy expanded by only 3% last year, and Beijing set its lowest growth target in almost three decades for 2023 on the first day of parliament.
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According to Christopher Beddor, deputy China research director at Gavekal Dragonomics, Li's top priority this year will be reaching that goal without causing significant inflation or debt accumulation.
Despite China's lack of plans to unleash stimulus to boost growth, Beddor said that significant obstacles like a collapse in exports or lingering weakness in the real estate sector could force Li's hand.
"In the name of COVID containment, the leadership has already accepted two years of unusually slow economic growth. They won't accept another now that containment is gone, he said.
When the premier holds his customary question-and-answer session with the media following the conclusion of the parliamentary session on Monday, Li will make his eagerly anticipated debut on the global stage.
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His appointment to the second position on the Politburo Standing Committee during the once every five years Communist Party Congress put him on the path to becoming premier in October.
As a generation of more reform-minded officials retires and Xi continues to consolidate his power after being elected president for an unprecedented third term on Friday, he is appointing a slate of loyalists to important positions in the government, which is the biggest reshuffle in ten years.