Xi appoints zero-Covid loyalist as his number two

THE FORMER Communist Party leader of Shanghai known for implementing a brutal Covid lockdown in the business hub was officially designated China’s new premier on Saturday.

Li Qiang was nominated by Xi Jinping, China’s president, and appointed with no dissenting voices at yesterday’s session of the National People’s Congress, China’s ceremonial parliament.

He replaced the retiring Li Keqiang, widely perceived to have been sidelined as Mr Xi tightened his grip on management of the economy. The appointment came a day after Mr Xi, 69, secured a third five-year term as state leader.

Shortly before, it was revealed China had brokered a deal for Iran and Saudi Arabia to resume diplomatic relations, in a major diplomatic coup for Beijing.

The new premier is best known for having enforced a “zero-Covid” lockdown in Shanghai last year as party boss of the region, proving his loyalty to Mr Xi in the face of resident complaints over a lack of access to basic services.

However, Mr Li was also instrumental in pushing for the sudden end to the zero-Covid policy late last year, Reuters reported this month. Trey McArver, cofounder of consultancy Trivium China, said of the move: “Officials know that Li Qiang is Xi Jinping’s guy. He clearly thinks that Li Qiang is a very competent person and he has put him in this position because he trusts him and he expects a lot of him.”

As Communist Party chief from 2002 to 2004 in his home city of Wenzhou, a hotbed of entrepreneurialism, Mr Li has a reputation for working behind the scenes to drive a revamp of Shanghai’s sclerotic stock market. Sources said he bypassed the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), which lost some of its power under the new set-up.

In late 2018, Mr Xi himself announced Shanghai’s new tech-focused STAR Market as well as the pilot of a registration-based IPO system, reforms meant to entice China’s hottest young firms to list locally rather than overseas.

“The CSRC was very unhappy,” said a veteran banker close to regulators and Shanghai officials, who preferred not to be named. They added that “Li’s relationship with Xi played a role here”, enabling him to present the scheme directly to the central government, without going through the CSRC.

The CSRC did not respond to request for comment, Reuters said.