Li Qiang

Li Qiang (; born 23 July 1959) is a Chinese politician and a senior leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), serving as the second-ranking member of the 20th CCP Politburo Standing Committee, behind CCP general secretary Xi Jinping. From 2017 to 2022, he served as the party secretary of Shanghai 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, Zhejiang. Later serving in provincial department of civil affairs, he later became the party secretary of Yong Kang, Wenzhou, the Political Legal Affairs Secretary of Zhejiang and later the deputy party secretary of the province. He became the governor of Zhejiang in 2012, later the party secretary of Jiangsu 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 of Tesla, Inc., 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 as premier of China in 2023.

Having served together with current CCP general secretary Xi Jinping 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 of Alibaba Group.

Early life and education

Li was born in Rui'an, Zhejiang 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 for on-the-job graduate studies in management engineering from 1995 to 1997 and the Central Party School for on-the-job graduate studies in world economics from 2001 to 2004. He received an executive Master of Business Administration from Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2005.

Career

Li joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in April 1983. He was the secretary of the Communist Youth League 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 of Wenzhou. In 2005, Li earned a seat on the provincial Party Standing Committee, serving under then party secretary Xi Jinping, 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.

On December 21, 2012, he became the acting governor of Zhejiang, succeeding Xia Baolong 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 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 of Alibaba Group to encourage investments.

On October 29, 2017, following the 19th Party Congress, Li was appointed as the party secretary of Shanghai. 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. 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. 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 against COVID-19. Reportedly, he tried to arrange for BioNTech to provide its vaccines in China.

Li was an alternate member of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (2012–17). In October 2017, he became a full member of the 19th CCP Central Committee and was elevated to the CCP Politburo.

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. 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