The approval of Li’s appointment comes a day after Xi was reappointed as China’s president
BEIJING: China’s ceremonial legislature appointed Premier Li Keqiang, the No. 2 leader of the ruling Communist Party, to a second five-year term Sunday and approved the appointment of a director for a new anti-corruption agency with sweeping powers.
China’s Premier traditionally serves as the country’s top economic official, but president Xi Jinping has stripped the post of its most prominent duties by appointing himself to lead party bodies that oversee economic reform and state industry.
jNational People’s Congress delegates voted 2,964 to 2 to approve Li’s appointment. That comes a day after party leader Xi Jinping was reappointed China’s president with no limits on how many terms he can serve.
The premier traditionally is China’s top economic official but Xi, the country’s most dominant leader since Mao Zedong, has stripped Li of many of the post’s most prominent duties by appointing himself to lead party bodies that oversee economic reform and state industry.
Li, who maintained a low profile under Xi mainly looking after economy, was endorsed as premier for his second tenure. But significantly he was nominated by Xi, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Other officials who got elected included was Yang Xiaodu director of the national supervisory commission, a newly formed anti-corruption body with statuary powers.
