Li Qiang | |||||||||||||||
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| 李强 | |||||||||||||||
_(cropped).jpg) Li in 2024 | |||||||||||||||
| Premier of China | |||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 11 March 2023 | |||||||||||||||
| President | Xi Jinping | ||||||||||||||
| Vice Premier | |||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Li Keqiang | ||||||||||||||
| Party Secretary of Shanghai | |||||||||||||||
| In office 29 October 2017 – 28 October 2022 | |||||||||||||||
| Mayor | |||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Han Zheng | ||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Chen Jining | ||||||||||||||
| Party Secretary of Jiangsu | |||||||||||||||
| In office 30 June 2016 – 29 October 2017 | |||||||||||||||
| Governor | |||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Luo Zhijun | ||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Lou Qinjian | ||||||||||||||
| Governor of Zhejiang | |||||||||||||||
| In office 30 January 2013 – 4 July 2016 Acting: 21 December 2012 – 30 January 2013 | |||||||||||||||
| Party Secretary | Xia Baolong | ||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Xia Baolong | ||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Che Jun | ||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||
| Born | July 1959 (age 65) Rui'an,Zhejiang, China | ||||||||||||||
| Political party | CCP | ||||||||||||||
| Alma mater |
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| Signature | .svg) | ||||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 李強 | ||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 李强 | ||||||||||||||
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Li Qiang (Chinese:李强;pinyin:Lǐ Qiáng; born July 1959) is a Chinese politician who has been the eighth and currentpremier of China since March 2023. He has been elevated to the second-ranking member on thePolitburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in October 2022. From 2017 to 2022, Li was theparty secretary forShanghai, where he pursued pro-business policies and handled the response to theCOVID-19 pandemic.
Li is considered part of the "New Zhijiang Army", the party faction ofXi Jinping, theCCP general secretary andtop leader since 2012. The close relationship started in the mid-2000s when both held party positions inZhejiang Province. Li is generally regarded by observers as pro-business and has voiced support for economic reforms.
Li was born inRui'an,Zhejiang in July 1959 in his maternal grandfather's house. Li's father, Li Xiju, came from a poor family in Dong'ao Village,Caocun Town and worked as a government clerk and cadre when he grew up. His mother, Ruan Xiulian, was from Mayu District, Rui'an, and made a living by selling pork when she was young. In his youth, Li was cared by his maternal grandmother and other elders. He finished primary and secondary school in Mayu.[1] He became a worker in the Irrigation Pump Station of Mayu in July 1976 at the age of 17 after graduating from secondary school, working there until 1977, and worked in the Third Tool Factory of Rui'an from 1977 to 1978.[2][3]
Li Qiang studied agricultural mechanization at theNingbo Branch ofZhejiang Agricultural University[note 1] from 1978 to 1982. He studiedsociologyby correspondence at the private China Sociology Correspondence University[note 2] in Beijing from 1985 to 1987.[2]Li attendedZhejiang University for on-the-job graduate studies inmanagement engineering from 1995 to 1997 and theCentral Party School for on-the-job graduate studies inworld economics from 2001 to 2004. He attendedHong Kong Polytechnic University from 2003 to 2005 and received an executiveMaster of Business Administration in 2005.[2]
Li joined theChinese Communist Party (CCP) in April 1983. He worked as a clerk at the Rui'an County Committee of theCommunist Youth League of China (CYLC) from 1982 to 1983, and later as the secretary of the committee from 1983 to 1984.[3] He then served in progressively senior roles in the provincial department of civil affairs. He first served as the deputy division head and then division head of the Rural Relief Division of the Zhejiang Provincial Civil Affairs Department from 1984 to 1991.[3] He then served as the director of the Civil Affairs Department's Personnel Division from 1991 to 1992, and finally as the deputy head of the Civil Affairs Department from 1992 to 1996.[3]
In 1996, he became a member of the Party Standing Committee of theprefecture-level city ofJinhua and the Party secretary of the city ofcounty-level city ofYongkang (which is part of Jinhua).[3] In 1998, he was reappointed as the deputy director of the Zhejiang Provincial Government's General Office. In 2000, he became the director and party secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Government's Bureau of Administration for Industry and Commerce.[3]
In 2002, he was appointed as the party secretary of the prefecture-level city ofWenzhou. By then he was only 43, and was the youngest party secretary of Wenzhou in history.[7] During his tenure in Wenzhou, he supported the development of private businesses in the city. He also gave support to light industry, aiming to create an "international light industry city".[8] In 2004, Li became the secretary-general ofZhejiang Provincial Party Committee and earned a seat on itsStanding Committee in the next year, serving under then Zhejiang's party secretary,Xi Jinping, in charge of administration and coordination.[9] During this time, he became close to Xi, eventually being regarded as a close ally of him.[10] In February 2011, he became the Political and Legal Affairs Secretary of Zhejiang province, and several months later was madedeputy party secretary.[2]
According toGuangming Daily in 2015, during his tenure in Zhejiang Li told a professor atZhejiang University that the province's local government needed an "independent think-tank like theRAND Corporation" to evaluate its performance, saying that it was "very difficult" for official organizations and officials to give objective analysis and criticize their superiors.[11] This led the professor to establish a non-governmental group of experts in 2009, with Li as its honorary director.[11]
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After the18th CCP National Congress, he became an alternate member of the CCP Central Committee. On December 21, 2012, he became the actinggovernor of Zhejiang, succeedingXia Baolong who was promoted to the provincial party secretary, and was officially elected as governor by theZhejiang Provincial People's Congress on January 30, 2013.[9][12] During his tenure in Zhejiang, he asked the non-governmental group of experts to write reports on his performance that "tell the truth", and later paid them a visit for a face-to-face feedback after feeling their first reports weren't critical enough.[11] Li also pursued reforms to the administrative review and approval system in Zhejiang.[13]
In 2014, when Zhejiang was preparing to hold an international internet conference, Li proposed that the host city turn into a pilot zone for unblocking China's strict internet controls for Western firms, an idea that was ultimately not approved by the central leadership.[14] He also started a project to create "characteristic towns", small towns focused on one type of business that have a pro-business climate and good physical environments. These included "Dream Town" for tech entrepreneurs and "Chocolate Town" for chocolate producers, both located in Zhejiang. This project was endorsed and spread to rest of China by Xi.[14]The Economist reported in 2023 that "many such towns became speculative hotspots for housing developers, and the kinds of businesses they were supposed to cultivate sometimes failed to take off".[11]
On June 30, 2016, Li was namedparty secretary of Jiangsu.[15] He was removed as Zhejiang governor on July 4, 2016, when he was succeeded byChe Jun.[16] He served for 15 months, becoming the shortest serving Jiangsu party secretary in the history of the People's Republic. In his first month, Li conducted 12 field surveys, covering northern, central, and southern Jiangsu.[17] During his tenure, he arranged meetings with business officials such asJack Ma ofAlibaba Group to encourage investments.[14]
On October 29, 2017, following the19th Party Congress, Li was appointed as theparty secretary of Shanghai,[2][18] becoming the first official to govern Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Shanghai.[19] He was also appointed as a member of theCCP Politburo in the same year. He is considered to be "business-friendly", having implemented pro-business policies while in Shanghai such as the opening of theShanghai Stock Exchange STAR Market.[20][21] He oversaw increasing foreign investment in the city, including thegigafactory ofTesla, Inc.[22] He has also implemented policies like lowering the threshold for internal migrants to obtain residency permits and creating five new towns to lessen the land supply shortage.[22]
In early 2022, Shanghai implemented atwo-month COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai, which significantly impacted the economy, leading Li to be blamed for the handling.[23] Nevertheless, reportedly he was more open to the idea withliving with COVID.[14] There were also views that Li was pressured from the Central leadership to implement a lockdown, and that initially, Li had adhered strictly to the guidelines of leading epidemiologists in China, includingZhang Wenhong, who maintained a 'flexible strategy' on anti-Covid measures.[24][25] It is also said that Li and Zhang had a good personal relationship, as the two were both fromRui'an, a city under theWenzhou prefecture. According toThe Wall Street Journal, Li is one of the few people in the top leadership that wants China to introduce WesternmRNA vaccines against COVID-19. Reportedly, he tried to arrange forBioNTech to provide its vaccines in China.[14]
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Following the 1st Plenary Session of the20th CCP Central Committee, held after the closing day of the20th Party Congress in October 2022, Li was appointed to theCCP Politburo Standing Committee as its second-ranking member.[26] Effectively putting him on track to become the premier, observers speculated that the lack of Central Government experience would make him heavily dependent on support from Xi to run theState Council.[27] On 28 October, he was succeeded byChen Jining as the party secretary of Shanghai.[28]Reuters reported on 3 March 2023, citing sources, that Li pushed for the quick relaxation ofzero-COVID rules in late 2022, resisting pressure from Xi, who wanted to slow the pace of the reopening. It also reported that Li had become the head of the CCP's COVID taskforce, and had also encouraged local governments to continue loosening COVID restrictions.[29]
In December 2022, Li gave attended the opening ceremony of the 13th National Congress of theAll-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and gave a speech "on behalf of the Communist Party's Central Committee and the State Council", hinting at his role in the State Council.[30] Li took office as premier on 11 March duringthe first session of the14th National People's Congress, taking over fromLi Keqiang.[31] He is the first person sinceZhou Enlai to rise directly to premiership from local government without any prior working experience in the central government, especially as avice premier.[32][33]
Since becoming the premier, Li has attempted to reassure private entrepreneurs and restore confidence after the damage caused by zero-COVID restrictions, lifted in December 2022, and regulatory campaigns undertaken by the government; he also reportedly persuaded Alibaba Group founderJack Ma to return to China after he spent a year overseas.[34] On 27 March 2023, he attended theChina Development Forum, where he said that China will "unswervingly stick toopening up". He also met many foreign business executives, includingTim Cook ofApple Inc. andRay Dalio ofBridgewater Associates, who made their first trip to China since the zero-COVID policy ended.[35]
In July 2023, China ended its increased regulatory efforts in the technology sector and Li met with representatives of major tech companies to convey the "strongest signal" in support of the industry.[36]: 175 Central government bodies and numerous local governments then introduces policy support for theplatform economy designed to increase economic growth and the creation of jobs.[36]: 175 During a meeting of the State Council in August 2023, Li called for more efforts to reach China's annual growth target.[37] In September 2023, Li visited several technology companies including Beijing U-Precision Technology, where he called on for technological self reliance.[38] In November 2023, Li Qiang was appointed as the head of theCentral Financial Commission, a newly established CCP body overseeing the financial sector.[39] In January 2024, Li called for "forceful" methods to stabilize the Chinese stock market after it registered deep declines.[40]
He visited Hubei province during January 2024 in a trip to emphasize technological independence, where he visitedYangtze Memory Technologies, theWuhan University, water conservancy projects, a chemical company focusing on green development in Yichang and a battery industrial estate set up by Guangdong Brunp Recycling Technology, a subsidiary ofCATL.[41] In the same month, he also visited Shaanxi province, where he paid a trip to Shaanxi Fast Auto Drive Group, the ESWIN Technology Group, a manufacturer of semiconductors used in cars, and Western Superconducting Technologies, full-process producer of niobium-titanium ingot rods; he called on manufacturers to increase investments in research and development.[42] In July 2024, during a symposium with heads ofstate-owned enterprises, private entrepreneurs and economists, he said China's economy was in "stable operation", while calling for "scientific policy decisions".[43] In August 2024, during a meeting of the State Council, he called on China to introduce policies that are "tangible, effective and accessible to both the public and businesses".[44] In December 2024, he warned local governments to not target private enterprises with unfair fines.[45] The same month, he visitedHangzhou,Shaoxing andJiaxing in Zhejiang province, where he promised to "steadily expand" access to foreign-invested companies.[46]
In January 2025, Li visited Shandong province, where he called on officials to expand trade-in programmes to boost consumption, expand charging and battery-swapping infrastructure due to the increasing number ofnew electric vehicles, and accelerate in the building of infrastructure and livelihood projects, including sports venues and modern water networks.[47] In February 2025, he held a plenary meeting of the State Council, where he called on officials to "turn pressure into motivation".[48] In the same month, during a meeting of the State Council, Li said China would adopt targeted policies to increase domestic consumption.[49] He later also visited the research centers ofChina Telecom,China Unicom andChina Mobile, China's three state-owned telecom service providers, calling on them to increase innovation.[50]
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In April 2023, Li met with Japanese foreign ministerYoshimasa Hayashi in Beijing in order to improve ties.[51] In May, Li met with Russian prime ministerMikhail Mishustin, where he the "comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between China and Russia in the new era", saying that bilateraltrade between China and Russia had increased by 40% over the past year.[52] On 19 June 2023, Li started a trip to Germany, his first trip overseas as premier, where he met with presidentFrank-Walter Steinmeier, chancellorOlaf Scholz, as well as CEOs of large German companies such asMercedes-Benz,SAP, andSiemens Energy.[53][54] After four days in Germany, he travelled to France on 21 June, where he met with French presidentEmmanuel Macron, prime ministerÉlisabeth Borne, as well as European Council presidentCharles Michel.[55] Li addressed theWorld Economic Forum's 14th Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Tianjin, where he said China's economy remained on track and criticized efforts at "derisking".[56]
Between 5 and 8 September, Li visited Jakarta, Indonesia, where he met with variousASEAN leaders. Li additionally met other leaders such as Australian prime ministerAnthony Albanese,[57] Japanese prime ministerFumio Kishida and South Korean presidentYoon Suk-yeol[58] during various summits such as the ASEAN Plus Three summit[59] and theEast Asia Summit.[60] Li Qiang also met with Indonesian presidentJoko Widodo, vowing $21.7 billion new Chinese investment in Indonesia.[61] Between 9 and 10 September, Li attended theG20 New Delhi summit, going in the place ofhead of state Xi Jinping, who did not attend.[62] There, he met various leaders such as Italian prime ministerGiorgia Meloni,[63] President of the European CommissionUrsula von der Leyen,[62] US presidentJoe Biden,[64] and British prime ministerRishi Sunak.[65]
In January 2024, Li Qiang visited Switzerland and Ireland, and he attended the annual meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos. In April, Li invited Dutch Prime MinisterMark Rutte and German ChancellorOlaf Scholz to visit China. In May, Li met with Russian PresidentVladimir Putin in Beijing. Between May 26 and May 27, Li attended theChina–Japan–South Korea trilateral summit inSeoul, and met with South Korean PresidentYoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime MinisterFumio Kishida.[66]
In March 2024, Li addressed theChina Development Forum, where he praised China's economy and promised to lower barriers for foreign businesses.[67] In mid-June 2024, Li Qiang visited New Zealand, where he was hosted by New Zealand Prime MinisterChristopher Luxon and Governor-GeneralCindy Kiro to sign trade and climate change agreements. China agreed to extend visa-free travel to New Zealanders while New Zealand agreed to support Chinese language training and cultural exchange programmes by localConfucius Institutes.[68]
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Li is seen as pro-business and supportive of economic reforms,[22][20][69] promoting private sector and service sector development.[3] According toThe Economist, "[r]educing bureaucratic interference in the market is one of his favourite themes".[11] In 2003 during his tenure in Wenzhou, he said that "without the private economy, Wenzhou's urban development would be set back by at least a century".[14] In 2014, Li said that "there should be more Alibabas and more Jack Mas". Li said in 2015 that economic reforms were a matter of "life and death" and that "the government cannot be an unlimited government." He also said that "to build a limited yet effective modern government, you need to transfer a lot of managerial power to social organizations."[69] According toThe Wall Street Journal, Li has close ties with Jack Ma.[14] The newspaper also reported that Li suggested to the government to ease its regulatory actions against businesses and acted as a mediatory between businesses and the government during the government's crackdown on private businesses.[14] Li has also been supportive of innovation related to information technology and artificial intelligence, and has called for more focus for the "real economy".[3]
Li's wife Lin Huan is a retired civil servant, who previously worked in the transportation bureau of the Zhejiang provincial government. The couple have one daughter (Li Ying) who studied in Australia.[69][3]
Unusual in senior Chinese politics, Li has emphasized his local identity, namely his ties toWenzhou. He set up the World Wenzhounese Conference to encourage members of the globalWenzhounese diaspora to invest back in the city, and told the conference in 2013 that "I was born and bred a Wenzhounese" and "[t]he Wenzhounese spirit of daring to be the first and especially of strong entrepreneurship has always inspired and nourished me".[11]
In 2024, Li Qiang was named one of the100 most influential people of 2024 byTime.[70]
……1977年11月，改为浙江农业大学宁波分校。1984年11月，改称浙江农村技术师范专科学校。1999年更名为浙江万里职业技术学院，并在鄞县中心区建造新校区。2002年升格为浙江万里学院。
Media related toLi Qiang at Wikimedia Commons
Quotations related toLi Qiang at Wikiquote
Works by or aboutLi Qiang atWikisource| Party political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Party Secretary ofWenzhou 2002–2004 | Succeeded by Wang Jianman (王建满) |
| Preceded by Zhang Xi (张曦) | Secretary-General of theCCP Zhejiang Provincial Committee 2004–2012 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission of theCCP Zhejiang Provincial Committee 2011–2012 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Deputy Party Secretary ofZhejiang 2011–2012 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Party Secretary ofJiangsu 2016–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | arty Secretary of Shanghai 2017–2022 | Succeeded by |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of Zhejiang 2012–2016 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Premier of the State Council 2023–present | Incumbent |
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