Many observers particularly in the West are disappointed that Xi was not replaced or his power cut. They are disappointed that there is no liberal democratic content in Xi’s policy after the 20th Congress was completed. Not only has he been confirmed for the third term but has appointed a “loyalist” like Li Qiang as the PM.
Quite the opposite has happened. He shuffled out old veterans like Hi Jin Tao, his predecessor and showed that he is quite ruthless when dealing with power politics. Western anxieties are factual but it misses a point. Its Xi’s under whom China has grown as the economic super power and he may not be interested in being nice to his political opponents as he follows his main goal, “economic supremacy”
Share markets have stumbled in response to his election but records show that such reactions are short term affairs. Given China’s economic performance record, the tumble reflects the idea that things will decline. Some Western companies may even be off loading their shares but nothing shows that China is flustered by HongKong or Shanghai index.
XI and Li
Xi has practically eliminated all his potent opponents in the power structure so the chances of spending time on managing internal opposition is low in his third term. His main policy agenda is economic, not conventional political development. With a very trusted lieutenant Li Qiang as the OM, he will be free to lead his objective of rapid growth through shift to the digital economy.
In this situation LI will play a major role. For the last decade, Li Keqiang ruled over the “North Palace” (the State Council) and President Xi over the “South Palace” (the CPC Secretariat) so they have a long history of working together. There was no rivalry or power conflict between the two. .
The main disagreements were over policy implementations and time management of policy decisions.. Xi wanted things done more quickly, While Li dealt with everyday realities. Most policy papers authored by Xi while he ran Zhejiang province were drafted by his secretary Li Qiang. This Li is one person whom Xi trusts more than all others.
Li is a native of Wenzhou, one of China’s highest-income cities. It’s a pioneer “modernization “cities which began as early as 1978, the first to set up private enterprises and hasn’t stopped since. Per capita income over the period has grown 500 times in that zone.
Li was the Wenzhou party secretary. He has an MBA from Hong Kong Polytechnic University, worked with Xi in Zhejiang, became the Governor of the province in 2013 and party secretary of Shanghai in 2017.His skill lies in high tech development and led the Shanghai Special Economic Zone success.
His record as a manager of Covid crisis is less impressive and was in fact replaced by “Iron Lady” Sun Chunlan. But his reputation as an economic manager remains. Sun has been retired so obviously it doesn’t matter that much.
Li’s team
As premier, Li will probably have newly promoted Politburo members Zhang Guoqing, Liu Guozhong and Yin Li in the new State Council team which begins in March 2023.
It’s expected that Zhang will oversee industrial policy, Liu agriculture and food production and Yin Li will oversee health. There will be other appointments including at the Bank of China but all are loyalists. In current China, being loyal isn’t enough and being competent either. The new team fulfills both categories and that is what makes the combo a team in Xi’s China.
Xi has much less politics in his hand now as the factional clashes are now less so he is taking no chances as far as his own priorities are concerned. To achieve that Li fits the bill.
Source: United News of Bangladesh