Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The Bamboo Curtain country is in mourning. Former Chinese Prime Minister (PM) Li Keqiang reportedly died at the age of 68 in Shanghai, Friday (27/10/2023) morning local time.
Government media CCTV reported Li Keqiang died after suffering a heart attack on Thursday, October 26.
“After all-out efforts to save him failed, he died in Shanghai at ten minutes past midnight on October 27,” the media report said.
During his lifetime, Li Keqiang was once seen as one of the strongest contenders for the main candidate for Communist Party leadership, Xi Jinping. He is reported to have reformist thoughts.
Even so, he only served as PM of China for 10 months before resigning in March 2023.
Li was born July 1, 1955 in Anhui province and came of age after the political upheaval of the 1960s and 1970s.
He was among the first generation of students to enter college after universities reopened following the Cultural Revolution, studying law and then economics at the prestigious Peking University.
There, he socialized with student democracy activists. However, unlike most students, Li chose to join the Communist Party.
After graduating, Li spent several years working in the Communist Youth League, an organization that cultivates young party members and doubles as a patronage network in China’s political system. Li was groomed for greater things and his affiliation with the Youth League is considered by many to be an important part of his rise.
In the late 1990s, he began to take a role in government, and in the early 2000s he led a number of provinces, including Henan, in central China and later Liaoning in the northeast.
At the time, Li was considered a potential contender to succeed Hu Jintao as China’s president and Communist Party chief in the so-called “fifth generation” of leaders after Mao.
But in 2007, when he and Xi were promoted to members of the elite Politburo Standing Committee, it was clear to China watchers that Xi had elbowed Li.
Five years later, Li ranked 2nd in the party hierarchy and became prime minister. The role typically includes broad oversight of the economy and the cabinet, but over the years Li has not been sidelined, as Xi put himself in charge of almost all aspects of policymaking.
In January 2017, Li wrote an article published by Bloomberg. In it, he said the government “opted for a lighter and more balanced approach while engaging the markets.” He said his country was opening up new economic sectors and taking steps to make doing business in China easier.
In office, Li tried to lower taxes and cut red tape, with mixed success. Toward the end of his term, as the economic impact of Covid became clear and frustrations mounted, Li sought to allay concerns and then stepped down in March after serving two five-year terms.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
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