China reshuffled its Cabinet on Sunday and appointed new vice-premiers while keeping its economic team tasked with helping President Xi Jinping and newly minted Premier Li Qiang steer a slower-growing economy amid increasing global uncertainties.
The National People’s Congress approved a proposed Cabinet line-up on the second last day of Parliament’s annual full session, naming four vice-premiers, five state councillors, the top state planner, the central bank governor and other members of the State Council.
Xi, 69, who secured an unprecedented third five-year term as president on Friday, has stacked the Cabinet with his men to try to get the country’s Covid-19-ravaged economy back on track, while boosting sagging investor confidence following government crackdowns on the private sector – from tech titans to property developers – in recent years.
Li, 63, who was confirmed as premier on Saturday and is a trusted political ally of Xi, and his new team will take their cue from the President to jump-start the world’s second-biggest economy amid worsening relations with the United States, which considers an increasingly assertive China a threat and rival.
Domestically, dealing with high youth unemployment, at about 17 per cent at the end of last year, and a record 11.58 million graduates who will flood the job market this year, is also a headache for policymakers.
On Sunday, Parliament endorsed Ding Xuexiang, Xi’s right-hand man, as executive or No. 1 vice-premier, entrusting him to help manage the domestic economy.
