Li Keqiang endorsed as premier

Li Keqiang was endorsed as Chinese premier Sunday at the ongoing first session of the 13th National People’s Congress (NPC), the country’s national legislature, as a number of other top leaders were elected.

Nearly 3,000 NPC deputies voted to approve the premiership nomination of Li, by newly elected President Xi Jinping. Li was officially appointed premier after President Xi signed a presidential decree. Li then took an

oath of allegiance to the Constitution.

This is the second term Li has held the post. In 2013, he became the seventh premier since the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was founded in 1949.

Li, born in 1955, joined the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 1976 and graduated from Peking University with degrees in law and economics.

After working as provincial leader in Henan and Liaoning provinces, he was elected to the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee in 2007 and appointed vice premier in 2008.

He was reelected to the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee in 2012 and 2017.

On Saturday, Li Zhanshu was elected chairman of the 13th NPC Standing Committee.

Li Zhanshu is a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. He was born in August 1950 and is from Pingshan, Hebei Province. He began his first job in December 1972 and joined the CPC in April 1975. Li Zhanshu graduated from the Department of Political Education, Night College, Hebei Normal University where he completed an in-service undergraduate program. He holds an executive MBA degree.

Also on Saturday, Wang Qishan was elected vice president of China.

Wang, born in July 1948, was a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC from 2012 to 2017.

During his time as top graft-buster, Wang pushed China’s campaign against corruption and violation of the Party’s code of conduct, which has seen the downfall of both high-level officials and those from the grassroots.

State leaders endorsed

Xu Qiliang and Zhang Youxia were endorsed as vice chairmen of the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the People’s Republic of China Sunday morning.

Wei Fenghe, Li Zuocheng, Miao Hua and Zhang Shengmin were endorsed as the CMC members after Xi’s nomination was approved by national lawmakers.

Yang Xiaodu was elected director of the national supervisory commission.

Yang, born in 1953, is currently a member of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau and deputy secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

He is the first director of the national supervisory commission, the national agency of a new anti-graft and supervisory network that was endorsed by the Constitutional amendment about a week ago.

As the supreme supervisory organ, the national supervisory commission oversees local commissions, which have a similar setup.

Zhou Qiang was elected president of the Supreme People’s Court.

Zhou, born in April 1960, is currently a member of the 19th CPC Central Committee. He was first elected president of the Supreme People’s Court in 2013.

Zhang Jun was elected procurator-general of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, replacing Cao Jianming.

Zhang, born in October 1956, is also a member of the 19th CPC Central Committee. He was appointed Minister of Justice in February 2017.