Li Qiang: a keen supporter of the private sector – and of Xi

One of the president’s Zhejiang allies, Li is named as the new Communist Party chief of Shanghai

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Li Qiang has been outspoken in his support for economic reform, innovation and the private sector. Photo: AP

Published: 11:31am, 29 Oct 2017Updated: 11:19am, 31 Oct 2017

When Li Qiang became party chief of Jiangsu in June last year, it was the first time he had worked outside his home province of Zhejiang in more than three decades in politics.

Situated on China’s east coast, just north of Zhejiang, Jiangsu has the second-largest gross domestic product of all the country’s provinces – it is second only to the southern economic powerhouse of Guangdong. Jiangsu’s GDP expanded 7.8 per cent in 2016 from a year earlier to more than 7.6 trillion yuan (US$1.14 trillion), a size bigger than Mexico or Indonesia.

“The reason he was placed in Jiangsu – a province with such economic gravity – is obvious. It is certain that [the leadership] wants to promote him further,” said Chen Daoyin, a Shanghai-based political commentator.

Li was named as the party boss of Shanghai on Sunday, days after he secured a seat in China’s 25-member Politburo. Almost every Shanghai party bosses since the early 1990s has gone on to the Politburo Standing Committee.

Li, 58, is one of a number of Xi Jinping allies from Zhejiang – one of the president’s main power bases. Li was Xi’s secretary for three years when he was the Zhejiang party chief.