With pragmatic economist Li Keqiang as leader, China would now be in a different position

It was close to Xi Jinping, but Li Keqiang had been appointed supreme party leader of the Communist Party of China in 2012. Then China would probably have had a very different position on this matter. Then private companies would probably have felt less chased, and foreign investors would have felt more welcome. In contrast to Xi, Li was economically well versed, and in any case much better educated.

Li, who was born on July 1, 1955 in Heffei in central China’s Anhui province, died suddenly of a heart attack in Shanghai at the age of 68, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported. Li was Prime Minister of China until March this year, making him formally the second most powerful man in the country. He is said to have died at ten minutes past midnight on Friday after “extreme efforts” to revive him, Chinese state television channel CCTV reported.

Li studied economics at the renowned Beijing University and received a doctorate in economic philosophy. He was among the first generation of students to be readmitted to college based on their academic performance, not on proper class background.

Friends from that time remember the eagerness with which he threw himself into his studies, and how he wanted to know everything about foreign philosophical, political and economic theories. They remember how, in the evenings after the study halls had already closed, they and Li discussed the constitution and the disadvantages of a continuous class struggle under the lanterns on the university grounds.

Communist Youth League

Yet Li did not choose to study in the US when he had the opportunity. He was persuaded by party cadres to devote himself mainly to the Communist Youth League, of which he himself had become a member in 1982.

The Youth League is a training course for young communist party members between the ages of 14 and 28. At the time, it was also the way for people of humble origins without family connections within the party to rise within the party and in society. Members and ex-members of the Youth League formed their own political faction linked to Hu Jintao, Xi Jinping’s predecessor as president and party leader. Xi did not belong to this faction. Once in power, he sharply reduced the budget for the Youth League.

Li was appointed governor of Henan province at a relatively young age, where he served from 1998 to 2004. From 2004 to 2007, he was party secretary of Liaoning province. In 2008 he became deputy prime minister.

In 2012, there is speculation that Li will succeed Hu Jintao as president and top party leaders. After all, he is his protégé and fellow faction. That does not happen: Xi Jinping emerges as the winner of the internal battle after a mysterious disappearance of several weeks. However, Li, who is the only one not from Xi Jinping’s faction, was appointed prime minister in 2013.

October 2022: Former President Hu Jintao is led away from the Party Congress. Prime Minister Li Keqiang, his protégé, receives a pat on the back.

Pragmatic policy

Premiers in China are traditionally charged with economic policy, but Li has hardly managed to leave his mark on the economy. He is known as a proponent of pragmatic economic policies, as someone who wants to strengthen the private sector and stimulate foreign investment.

He speaks fluent English and, unlike many other senior administrators, is able and willing to provide foreign journalists with extensive and well-researched answers at occasional press conferences. It was clear at those press conferences that Li must once have been a brilliant student.

But in practice he cannot compete with Xi. Xi shifted many of the economic responsibilities to people he trusted more and to specially created committees of the Communist Party.

Li was also little visible in the media. At the beginning of his premiership, he had an internal battle with Xi about this, a Chinese journalist from the state media told NRC at the time. According to this journalist, both leaders urged his medium to mainly report on their own activities and achievements.

Disastrous consequences

During the corona crisis, Li pointed out the disastrous consequences which had Xi’s strict restrictions on the Chinese economy. But he ultimately always publicly supported Xi’s decisions.

Li Keqiang’s death marks the end of the influence of more pragmatic leaders who focused on China’s economic stability as the basis for the power of the Communist Party. Under Xi, the focus has shifted to national security over economic growth.

Hu Jintao, mentor to Li Keqiang, was taken off stage in front of the cameras at the 2022 Party Congress. This happened on Xi’s instructions. When Hu walked away, he tapped Li Keqiang on the shoulder, and Li Keqiang nodded back. Both must have known their time was over.