2023-10-27 12:49:00
Former Prime Minister Li Keqiang, died early this Friday. DPA via Europa Press | EUROPAPRESS
He died of a heart attack at the age of 68. He was a strong defender of liberalization, the private sector and foreign investment, a position opposite to that of current Prime Minister Xi Jinping.
27 oct 2023 . Updated at 12:49 p.m.
The former prime minister Li Keqiang He died unexpectedly of a heart attack. Li had been a counterpoint to the power of President Xi Jinping that had been marginalizing him and withdrawing powers until he left his position last March. The former prime minister, who piloted the economy from 2013 to 2023, was a firm defender of its liberalizationthe private sector and foreign investment.
The death of Li Keqiang, 68, occurred in the early hours of Friday, after suffering a heart attack while spending a few days in the city of Shanghai. Messages of condolence have followed one another in China and have also come from the international community.
Li ran the world’s second-largest economy for a decade difficult marked by trade tensions with the United States, the increase in debt of regional governments, the end of buminmobiliario and the pandemic.
Political differences between Li Keqiang and President Xi Jinping were evident during the decade of working together. Faced with the prime minister’s openness commitment, Xi defended the development of the public sector over the private sector, in addition to an increase in the control power of the Communist Party over companies. Little by little, Xi developed hyper-leadership and reduced the prime minister’s powers.
Unlike Xi, who remained in office as president with a constitutional change, Li said goodbye as prime minister after completing two five-year terms, as was the tradition. His departure from the government was accompanied by the cessation of functions in the different advisory bodies of the Party. I currently have no position.
Li Keqiang, 68, was considered a pragmatic leader, well prepared and a firm defender of the reforms initiated by Deng Xiaoping. He was also recognized for his defense of the fight against poverty and valued for initiatives to improve living conditions such as the construction of affordable housing.
Unlike Xi Jinping, he expressed himself in public spontaneously and was fluent in English. Li Keqiang was born in Anhui province. and during the Cultural Revolution he worked in the fields. He studied at the prestigious Peking University where he graduated in law and economics. He was a very close collaborator of President Hu Jintao, both belonged to the Communist Youth League, which became a kind of incubator for Party positions. His rise and popularity led him to be among the presidential candidates, but Xi Jinping won and his star was losing its shine.
His departure from the government also certified the loss of power of the League faction, which has practically been dismantled. This sector, which is now left orphaned, He considered himself close to social democracy and a defender of economic liberalization.
Filed in: China Asia
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