HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Li Qiang (; born 23 July 1959) is a Chinese politician and a senior leader of the
Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...
(CCP), serving as the second-ranking member of the 20th CCP Politburo Standing Committee, behind
CCP general secretary The general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party () is the Party leader, head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Since 1989, the CCP general secr ...
Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, s ...
. From 2017 to 2022, he served as the party secretary of
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
and also a member of the 19th CCP Politburo. Since 2022, he has also been a member of the 20th CCP Politburo. Having joined the CCP in 1983, he first became secretary of the Communist Youth League of
Rui'an Rui'an (, Wenzhounese: ''zy iu'') is a county-level city along the southern coast of Zhejiang province, China, and is under the administration of Wenzhou City. It has a population of 1,125,000 people and covers a land area of , when including wat ...
,
Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...
. Later serving in provincial department of civil affairs, he later became the party secretary of Yong Kang,
Wenzhou Wenzhou (pronounced ; Wenzhounese: Yuziou y33–11 tɕiɤu33–32 ), historically known as Wenchow is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Zhejiang province in the People's Republic of China. Wenzhou is located at the extreme south east o ...
, the Political Legal Affairs Secretary of Zhejiang and later the deputy party secretary of the province. He became the
governor of Zhejiang The politics of Zhejiang Province in the People's Republic of China is structured in a dual party-government system like all other governing institutions in mainland China. The Governor of Zhejiang is the highest-ranking official in the People's ...
in 2012, later the party secretary of
Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...
province, and finally being transferred to the position of party secretary of Shanghai. During his tenure in Shanghai, he opened the Shanghai Stock Exchange STAR Market, oversaw foreign investment in the city including
Gigafactory Shanghai Gigafactory Shanghai ( zh, ) (also known as Giga Shanghai, or Gigafactory 3) is the first oversea factory, located in Shanghai, China and operated by Tesla, Inc. The facility currently hosts the final assembly of the Tesla Model 3 and Tesla Mo ...
of
Tesla, Inc. Tesla, Inc. ( or ) is an American multinational automotive and clean energy company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Tesla designs and manufactures electric vehicles (electric cars and trucks), battery energy storage from home to grid- ...
, eased the requirements for internal migrants to obtain residency permits, and created five new towns to decrease the land supply shortage. He also oversaw a two-month lockdown in Shanghai in 2022 in response to an outbreak, which severely damaged the local economy and has been criticized. Nevertheless, he was promoted to the Politburo Standing Committee later in 2022 and is expected to succeed
Li Keqiang Li Keqiang (born 1 July 1955) is a Chinese politician who is the outgoing premier of China. An economist by profession, Li is head of China's executive branch as well as one of the leading figures behind China's Financial and Economic Affai ...
as premier of China in 2023. Having served together with current CCP general secretary
Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, s ...
in Zhejiang, Li is seen as a close ally of Xi. Despite his closeness to Xi, Li is also generally regarded as pro-business, having close links to entrepreneurs such as
Jack Ma Jack Ma Yun (; born 10 September 1964) is a Chinese business magnate, investor and philanthropist. He is the co-founder and former executive chairman of Alibaba Group, a multinational technology conglomerate. In addition, he co-founded Yunfeng ...
of Alibaba Group.


Early life and education

Li was born in
Rui'an Rui'an (, Wenzhounese: ''zy iu'') is a county-level city along the southern coast of Zhejiang province, China, and is under the administration of Wenzhou City. It has a population of 1,125,000 people and covers a land area of , when including wat ...
,
Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...
in July 1959. Li Qiang studied agricultural mechanization at the Ningbo Branch of Zhejiang Agricultural University (nowadays Zhejiang Wanli College) from 1978 to 1982. He studied sociology by correspondence at the private China Sociology Correspondence University (; defunct in 2021) in Beijing from 1985 to 1987. Li attended
Zhejiang University Zhejiang University, abbreviated as ZJU or Zheda and formerly romanized as Chekiang University, is a national public research university based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. It is a member of the prestigious C9 League and is selected into the na ...
for on-the-job graduate studies in management engineering from 1995 to 1997 and the
Central Party School The Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party (), commonly known as the Central Party School (), located in Beijing, is the higher education institution which trains Chinese Communist Party (CCP) cadres. As of 2012, it has around 1,6 ...
for on-the-job graduate studies in world economics from 2001 to 2004. He received an executive
Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...
from
Hong Kong Polytechnic University The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is a public research university located in Hung Hom, Hong Kong near Hung Hom station. The University is one of the eight government-funded degree-granting tertiary institutions in Hong Kong. Founded ...
in 2005.


Career

Li joined the
Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...
(CCP) in April 1983. He was the secretary of the
Communist Youth League The Communist Youth League of China (CYLC), also known as the Young Communist League of China or simply the Communist Youth League (CYL), is a youth movement of the People's Republic of China for youth between the ages of 14 and 28, run by the ...
of Rui'an County. He then served in progressively senior roles in the provincial department of civil affairs. He later became the Communist Party secretary of the city of Yongkang, and then party secretary of the
prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure. During the Republican era, many of China' ...
of
Wenzhou Wenzhou (pronounced ; Wenzhounese: Yuziou y33–11 tɕiɤu33–32 ), historically known as Wenchow is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Zhejiang province in the People's Republic of China. Wenzhou is located at the extreme south east o ...
. In 2005, Li earned a seat on the
provincial Party Standing Committee Members of the standing committees of the Chinese Communist Party provincial-level committees, commonly referred to as ''Shengwei Changwei'' (), make up the top ranks of the provincial-level organizations of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). I ...
, serving under then party secretary
Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, s ...
, and also became the secretary-general of the provincial party committee, in charge of administration and coordination. In February 2011, he became the Political and Legal Affairs Secretary of Zhejiang province, and several months later was made
deputy party secretary In modern Chinese politics, a Deputy Party Committee Secretary (; also translated as Deputy Party Secretary, deputy party chief, vice party chief) serves as the lieutenant to the Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary, and thus the deputy ...
. On December 21, 2012, he became the acting governor of Zhejiang, succeeding
Xia Baolong Xia Baolong (; born 2 December 1952) is a Chinese politician. Originally from Tianjin, Xia began his political career in the Communist Youth League. He served as the vice mayor of Tianjin, governor and Communist Party Secretary of Zhejiang provi ...
who was promoted to the provincial party secretary, and was officially elected as governor on January 30, 2013. He served as governor until July 4, 2016. 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. He also started a project to create small towns that have a pro-business climate and good physical environments, a project endorsed and spread to rest of China by Xi. In 2015, Li accompanied CCP leader Xi Jinping on a state visit to the United States. On June 30, 2016, Li Qiang was named party secretary of
Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...
province. He served for 15 months, becoming the shortest serving Jiangsu party secretary in the history of the People's Republic. During his tenure, he arranged meetings with business officials such as
Jack Ma Jack Ma Yun (; born 10 September 1964) is a Chinese business magnate, investor and philanthropist. He is the co-founder and former executive chairman of Alibaba Group, a multinational technology conglomerate. In addition, he co-founded Yunfeng ...
of Alibaba Group to encourage investments. On October 29, 2017, following the
19th Party Congress The 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (commonly referred to as ''Shíjiǔ Dà''; ) was held at the Great Hall of the People, Beijing, between 18 and 24 October 2017. 2,280 delegates represented the party's estimated 89 mill ...
, Li was appointed as the party secretary of
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
. He is considered to be "business-friendly", having implemented pro-business policies policies while In Shanghai such as the opening of the Shanghai Stock Exchange STAR Market. He oversaw increasing foreign investment in the city, including the gigafactory of
Tesla, Inc. Tesla, Inc. ( or ) is an American multinational automotive and clean energy company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Tesla designs and manufactures electric vehicles (electric cars and trucks), battery energy storage from home to grid- ...
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. In 2022, Li was blamed for a two-month lockdown in Shanghai, which significantly impacted the economy. Nevertheless, reportedly he was more open to the idea with
living with COVID the global COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing, but the disease may shift from a pandemic stage to an endemic stage in the future. Endemicity is characterized by people continuing to be infected and becoming ill, but in relatively stable number ...
. According to ''The Wall Street Journal'', Li is one of the few people in the top leadership that wants China to introduce Western
mRNA vaccines An mRNA vaccine is a type of vaccine that uses a copy of a molecule called messenger RNA (mRNA) to produce an immune response. The vaccine RNA transfection, delivers molecules of antigen-encoding mRNA into dendritic cell, immune cells, which us ...
against COVID-19. Reportedly, he tried to arrange for
BioNTech BioNTech SE ( ; or short for Biopharmaceutical New Technologies) is a German biotechnology company based in Mainz that develops and manufactures active immunotherapies for patient-specific approaches to the treatment of diseases. It develops ...
to provide its vaccines in China. Li was an alternate member of the 18th Central Committee of the
Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...
(2012–17). In October 2017, he became a full member of the 19th CCP Central Committee and was elevated to the
CCP Politburo The Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, formally known as the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and known as the Central Bureau before 1927, is the decision-making body of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). ...
. Following the first plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, Li Qiang was appointed to the
Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), officially the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, is a committee consisting of the top leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Histori ...
. He is expected to become premier in 2023.


Political views


Economy and business

Despite his closeness to Xi, Li is seen as pro-business and relatively economically reformist. 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". 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." According to ''The Wall Street Journal'', Li has close ties with Jack Ma. ''WSJ'' 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.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Qiang Living people 1959 births Governors of Zhejiang Chinese Communist Party politicians from Zhejiang People's Republic of China politicians from Zhejiang People from Rui'an Politicians from Wenzhou Delegates to the 12th National People's Congress Delegates to the 10th National People's Congress Members of the 19th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 20th Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Alternate members of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Secretaries of the Communist Party Shanghai Committee