Chinese Premier Li Keqiang re-elected

Li Keqiang has been re-elected premier by China's Parliament in Beijing's Great Hall of the People.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has been re-elected by the parliament at The Great Hall of the People. (AAP)

Li Keqiang has been elected to his second term as Chinese premier by the country's rubber-stamp parliament.

Of the delegates at Beijing's Great Hall of the People, 2,964 voted for Li's reappointment on Sunday, and two voted against, the parliament said.

His position puts Li in charge of the world's second-largest economy. The Chinese government aims to maintain high economic growth rates while controlling the risks from the country's swelling debt.

The 62-year-old, however, spent his first mandate in the shadow of President Xi Jinping, who has put himself in charge of various economic committees, drawing power away from Li and the state council.

Xi, who is considered the most powerful Chinese leader since the founder of communist China, Mao Zedong, was unanimously re-elected as president on Saturday by the parliament.

His close ally Wang Qishan made a comeback in politics by being elected as vice president after having retired in the fall.

The parliament also elected Yang Xiaodu, the current minister of supervision and a member of the Politburo ruling body, to serve as head of a new anti-graft commission.

The National Supervision Commission is to extend Xi's sweeping anti-corruption campaign from Communist Party members to all civil servants, police officers, prosecutors, the courts and executives of state-owned enterprises.

The anti-graft agency, which ranks alongside the central government and above the judiciary, will operate independently of the courts against corruption, malfeasance or any lax implementation of political goals by civil servants.


Share
2 min read

Published

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang re-elected | SBS News