Articles

The Preparation of Li Keqiang

The Fourth Plenum departed from precedent in failing to appoint Politburo Standing Committee member and PRC Vice President Xi Jinping to the Party’s military decision-making body, and so provoked speculation that Party General Secretary Hu Jintao is maneuvering to have his crony Li Keqiang succeed him rather than Xi. A close examination of the roles and activities of Li Keqiang in the Chinese leadership since his appointment to the Politburo Standing Committee at the 17th Party Congress in 2007, however, shows that he has been engaged almost exclusively in the work of the State Council, the PRC state’s executive arm, under the supervision of Premier Wen Jiabao, while Xi Jinping has assumed responsibility for running the Party apparatus under the direction of Hu Jintao. This rigorous division of labor has not changed in the months since the plenum. This evidence, together with other indications in PRC media of Xi’s status, suggests that Xi remains Hu’s heir apparent and that Li continues to prepare to succeed Wen Jiabao as premier.

Monday, February 15, 2010 0 min read By:

Alice L. Miller,