image source,AFP via Getty Images
Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) shakes hands with new Premier Li Qiang (left).
As China’s “two sessions” come to an end, China has completed a leadership change at the government level. Xi Jinping continued to serve as the country’s president, and Li Qiang, his confidant who was promoted at last year’s “Twentieth National Congress”, unsurprisingly succeeded Li Keqiang as Premier of the State Council.
The candidates for deputy prime ministers, ministers and state councilors were also finalized at the National People’s Congress meeting on Sunday (March 12).
Let’s take a look at how Xi Jinping, who is in power, arranges personnel in important areas such as national defense, security, and foreign affairs. Who are the new and old faces in the new ruling team?
Li Qiang
Former Chinese premier Li Keqiang (center) shakes hands with newly elected premier Li Qiang (right) as Xi Jinping looks on during the fourth plenary session of China’s National People’s Congress in Beijing on March 11.
Li Qiang became the eighth Premier of the State Council of China. The 63-year-old is one of the core staff of Xi Jinping’s team. In the early 2000s, when Xi Jinping was in power in Zhejiang, Li Qiang served as its secretary-general. He later ruled Jiangsu and Shanghai.
Although Shanghai’s frequent crisis of people’s livelihood during the closure of the city due to the new crown epidemic last year caused his leadership to be widely questioned, this did not prevent him from being promoted to the second-ranked member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China at the “Twentieth National Congress” of the Communist Party of China last year, following Xi Jinping. following.
Zhao Leji
Zhao Leji (left) shakes hands with Xi Jinping (right).
Zhao Leji, who remained on the Standing Committee of the Politburo following the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, served as the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.
Zhao Leji, 65, started his career in western China’s Qinghai and Shaanxi provinces. During Xi Jinping’s first term in office (2012-2017), he served as the head of the Central Organization Department, responsible for helping to deal with the appointment and removal of high-level party and government personnel, including filling the large number of cadre vacancies caused by the anti-corruption campaign at the time. In 2017, he succeeded Wang Qishan as Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, and assisted Xi Jinping in investigating Sun Lijun, Fu Zhenghua and others.
Wang Huning
Wang Huning (left) talks with Li Qiang (right).
Wang Huning is another member of the Standing Committee of the “Twentieth National Congress”. He served as the chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
Wang Huning, who was born as a scholar, is considered a writer and theoretical think tank for generations of CCP leaders. After being promoted to the Standing Committee in 2017, he served as the first secretary of the Central Secretariat and director of the Central Steering Committee for Spiritual Civilization Construction. He is Xi Jinping’s national policy advisor and in charge of Ideological work.
Han Zheng
Wang Qishan (left) shakes hands with Han Zheng (right).
Han Zheng, 68, did not remain on the Standing Committee, but he was trusted by Xi to succeed Wang Qishan in the more ceremonial post of vice president of China.
Han Zheng had worked in Shanghai for a long time and was regarded as a pragmatic official. He became a member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo in 2017, and then served as executive vice premier, mainly assisting Xi Jinping in managing Hong Kong and Macau affairs. During this period, he supervised the suppression of the massive “anti-extradition” protests in Hong Kong and promoted the establishment of the “National Security Law” in Hong Kong.
Ding Xuexiang
Ding Xuexiang, 60, is a close aide of Xi Jinping. He was promoted to the Standing Committee following the “Twentieth National Congress” and became the executive vice premier of the State Council, although he has never been in charge of any province or city.
As early as 2007, Ding Xuexiang worked with Xi Jinping briefly in Shanghai. In 2013, he was transferred to the deputy director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee. In 2017, he was promoted to director and became Xi Jinping’s chief of staff. He has accompanied Xi Jinping on many visits at home and abroad.
He Lifeng
He Lifeng, director of the National Development and Reform Commission, who became a member of the Politburo at the “Twentieth National Congress” of the Communist Party of China, became the vice premier of the State Council, succeeding Liu He as the next “economic tsar”, handling China’s economic, financial and industrial affairs.
The 68-year-old had worked in Fujian for a long time and was under Xi Jinping in the 1980s. In 2014, he became deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, which oversees China’s economic operations, and was promoted to director in 2017.
Liu Guozhong
60-year-old Liu Guozhong (middle) was promoted to deputy prime minister at the “two sessions”. He is expected to succeed Sun Chunlan (left) in charge of health work.
Liu Guozhong, 60, was promoted to deputy prime minister at the “two sessions”. He is expected to succeed Sun Chunlan in charge of health work. Liu Guozhong was born in military industry. After entering politics in the 1990s, he started his official career in Heilongjiang in northeastern China. In 2013, he was transferred to the All-China Federation of Trade Unions as deputy director.
From 2016 to 2022, he served as local officials in Sichuan, Jilin and Shaanxi respectively. At the “Twentieth National Congress” in 2022, he became a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee as the secretary of the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee.
Zhang Guoqing
Zhang Guoqing (first from right) was promoted to vice premier at the “two sessions”.
Zhang Guoqing was promoted to deputy prime minister at the “two sessions”. The 58-year-old official was the general manager of China Ordnance Industry Group, one of China’s largest arms manufacturers, and was known as the “Young Marshal of Ordnance Industry”.
Shortly following the Bo Xilai incident broke out in 2012, he suddenly “airborne” into Chongqing and served as the deputy secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Party Committee. He became the mayor in 2017 and was transferred to the mayor of Tianjin a few months later. In 2020, he began to take charge of Liaoning, and entered the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee at the “Twentieth National Congress” last year.
Qin Gang
Qin Gang was suddenly appointed as foreign minister at the end of December last year, and concurrently served as state councilor at the “two sessions”.
Qin Gang, the former Chinese ambassador to the United States, was suddenly appointed as foreign minister at the end of December last year. He and Wang Yi, the former foreign minister who has been promoted to director of the Central Foreign Affairs Office, jointly handle China’s foreign affairs. He concurrently served as State Councilor at the “two sessions”.
Qin Gang has served as the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is familiar with the operation of foreign media. He was also in charge of protocol affairs and accompanied Xi Jinping on many foreign visits. He is regarded as one of Xi Jinping’s trusted staff.
Wang Xiaohong
Wang Xiaohong, 65, took over as minister of public security in June last year. In the “two sessions”, he concurrently served as State Councilor.
Wang Xiaohong used to be Xi Jinping’s old ministry in Fujian, and the two have known each other for nearly 20 years. In 2015, Wang Xiaohong became the head of the Beijing Public Security Bureau. At the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China last year, he concurrently served as the secretary of the Central Secretariat, marking the further consolidation of his power.
Li Shangfu
On March 11, the first session of the 14th National People’s Congress of China held its fourth plenary session in Beijing. After a vote, Zhang Youxia (middle) and He Weidong (left) were decided as vice-chairmen of the Central Military Commission. On the right is Li Shangfu.
Among the four members of the Central Military Commission announced at the “Twentieth National Congress”, 65-year-old Li Shangfu ranked first. He has succeeded Wei Fenghe as state councilor and defense minister.
It is worth noting that in 2018, the United States imposed sanctions on Li Shangfu, who was in charge of equipment work at the time, because the Chinese army purchased weapons from Russia. Some analysts believe that Beijing’s appointment of Li Shangfu as the Minister of Defense was intended to “demonstrate” once morest Washington.
