China's legislature elected Li Keqiang as premier on Friday, installing an English-speaking bureaucrat as the man in charge of the economy, the world's second-largest, and its aim of reviving growth through consumer-led expansion.
The largely rubber-stamp National People's Congress, as expected, chose Li, 57, to replace Wen Jiabao. Nearly 3,000 delegates gathered in Beijing's Great Hall of the People to vote on Li's appointment, putting the final stamp of approval on a generational transition of power. Li drew only three no votes and six abstentions from the carefully selected parliament. Li rose and shook hands with Xi Jinping, who was elected president by the legislature on Thursday, as legislators applauded. A beaming Wen walked over to Li, shook his hand and exchanged words. While Xi is the country's top leader, Li heads China's State Council, or cabinet, and is charged with executing government policy and overseeing the economy. As premier, Li is faced with one of the world's widest gaps between rich and poor, an economy over-reliant on investment spending and a
The newly-elected Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) talks to Premier Li Keqiang.
persistently frothy housing market that has stoked resentment among the middle class. More than any other Chinese party leader until now, Li was immersed in the intellectual and political ferment of the decade of reform under Deng Xiaoping, which ended in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests that were crushed by troops. As a student at Peking University, Li befriended ardent pro-democracy advocates, some of whom later became outright challengers to party control. His friends included activists who went into exile after the June 1989 crackdown. Li, who has a degree in law and a doctorate in economics, will take the reins of an economy whose growth slowed in 2012 to a 13-year low, albeit at a 7.8 percent rate that is the envy of other major economies. Analysts have described the Wen years as a lost decade during which economic reforms slowed and state-backed industries tightened their grip on the economy. Both Xi and Li will need to deliver a blueprint to stabilise the real estate market. They need to do this quickly to calm a market in which real estate prices have soared 10-fold in major cities during the last decade. Across China, people are resentful of the widening income inequality gap. China has 2.7 million U.S. dollar millionaires and 251 billionaires, according to the Hurun Report, but 13 percent of its people live on less than $1.25 per day, according to United Nations data. The average annual urban disposable income is just 21,810 yuan ($3,500). Xi Jinping named president of China Artyom Kobzev: Xi
Jinping has been named president of China at the session of the Chinese Assembly of People’s Representatives in Beijing. This is one of 3 top-level posts in China. Xi Jinping became the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and the Supreme Commander-in-Chief last November. In other words, all power is now concentrated in him. After Xi Jinping was elected president of China at the 12th session of the Chinese Assembly of People’s Representatives the process of the transfer of power to the 5th generation of the Chinese leaders was completed. Xi Jinping took the helm of the Communist Party of China in November of last year, and his election was no surprise at all. The political system of China is such that the names of the future leaders became known long before they are officially named. By the well-established tradition, the sessions of the Chinese Assembly bring no surprises either, Head of the Centre for the Russian-Chinese Studies at the Lomonosov Moscow State University Yevgeny Zaitsev says. "It is very unlikely that someone - a kind of Chinese Boris Yeltsyn will appear on the rostrum to say that China will soon undergo radical changes. Such events are always carefully planned and prepared, and if there are surprises, they are sanctioned by the leadership of the Communist Party of China." Another political tradition in China is the continuity of the course pursued by the Chinese leaders. They say that a new leader needs approximately 5 years to formulate his policy. However, Xi Jinping has proved to be an exception to the rule. His political style became evident as soon as he was elected the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the “Power” magazine Alexander Gabuyev says. "He delivered a short program speech during a ceremony to present the new Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China. He mentioned neither Marxism nor socialism or any other terms the people of China were so tired of. Instead, he spoke about the unemployment, about slowed economic growth, about the lack of a clear pension system in China, about corruption, and about many other things the people in China are concerned about. He promised that in the coming 10 years his government would tackle all these issues." It would be good to mention here that as distinct from Hu Jintao, Xi Jinping has concentrated the party, political and military power in his hands. Last November he became the chairman of the Central Military Commission. Just to compare: the former Chinese leader Jiang Zimin handed over his control of China’s military sector to Hu Jintao only 2 years after he became president of China. China's Xi Jinping formally elected as president by parliament China's parliament formally elected
heir-in-waiting Xi Jinping as the country's new president on Thursday, succeeding Hu Jintao, putting the final seal of approval on a generational transition of power. The largely rubber stamp National People's Congress chose Xi in a tightly scripted ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Xi was appointed party and military chief - where real power lies - in November. Voice of Russia, Reuters, TASS, Source: Voice of Russia
