of premier of China’s State Council has been taken by Li Qiang, who previously successfully headed the Shanghai municipal committee. He is considered one of the closest associates of the current Chinese leader.
Li Qiang graduated from Zhejiang Agricultural University with a degree in agricultural mechanization engineering. He has spent most of his career in various positions in the eastern province of Zhejiang. In October last year, he was included in the Politburo Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee. Many people remember him for his decision to introduce a strict two-month quarantine in Shanghai amid a coronavirus outbreak in the city.
China’s new defense minister was in charge of Xichang spaceport in the past
of first vice premier was held by Ding Xuexiang, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee, another person close to Xi Jinping. Experts point out that this politician spent far more time working with the PRC president than anyone else in the Chinese leader’s entourage. Li Shangfu, 65, who has been under US sanctions since 2018, has been endorsed for of defense minister. Washington imposed restrictions on the Chinese general due to agreements on the purchase of Russian aircraft and S-400 missile systems. Li Shangfu was born into a high-ranking military family. He graduated from the prestigious Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) University of Defense Science and Technology in Changsha, southeast Hunan. At 45, he directs the Sichan cosmodrome. Oversaw the launch of China’s first lunar probe and also oversaw many other space programs. In 2016-2017, he served as Deputy Commander of the PLA Strategic Support Forces. From 2017 to 2022, he headed the Troop Training and Supply Department of China’s Central Military Council. The military leader is credited with an interest in the development of the country’s aerospace industry.
The main people responsible for the implementation of Chinese state policy in the economic direction have remained in their place. In particular, the head of the financial department Liu Kun, the minister of commerce Wang Wentao and the head of the People’s Bank of China Yi Gang retained their positions.
China’s new foreign minister took office at the end of last year. Former Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang, who replaced Wang Yi in , became the head of the foreign policy department. The latter, advanced in the line of the party, is now a member of the political bureau of the central committee of the CPC heads the office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Central Committee of the Party.
with authority
Ivan Zuenko, Senior Researcher, Institute of International Studies, MGIMO, Russian Foreign Ministry, Candidate of Historical Sciences:
- Managers loyal to Xi Jinping now hold key positions in the PRC’s State Council. For example, such is the new Premier of the State Council, Li Qiang. However, the current appointment is due not only to personal loyalty, but also to the skills Li Qiang has acquired and demonstrated in leading the economically developed regions at the mouth of the Yangtze, including Shanghai. The same leaders remained at the head of ministries and state committees. One of the few new personalities is the new Defense Minister Li Shangfu. However, in the Chinese system, the Minister of Defense has limited influence over the development and management of the Chinese military. It’s more of a technical advance. In the hierarchy of the army, he occupies the fourth place: after the president of the Central Military Council and his two deputies.
As for Li Shangfu, his appointment is above all a reward for the successful work on the modernization of the Chinese army. According to his skills, he is not a military leader, but an engineer. US sanctions were imposed on him for buying Russian weapons. At the same time, one cannot say that his nomination marks or pushes the passage to a new phase of the Sino-American confrontation. The reasons for this confrontation are much deeper, systemic, and in this context, the fact of sanctions against the new minister is an interesting touch, but nothing more.
