BEIJING: Former Chinese premier Li Keqiang has died after suffering a heart attack, state media reported Friday.
Li served as premier during President Xi Jinping’s first two five-year terms.
Xinhua news agency said Li had a sudden heart attack on Thursday, and had passed away in the early hours of Friday in Shanghai, where he had been resting.
He was 68 years old.
A career bureaucrat who spoke fluent English, Li had voiced support for economic reforms during his time in office.
But his attempts at financial reforms were curtailed by Xi’s overwhelming authority.
He was praised for helping to steer the country through the global financial crisis relatively unscathed.
But his time in office saw a dramatic shift in power in China from the more consensus-based rule associated with former leader Hu Jintao and his predecessors, to the more concentrated power of Xi.
The appointment of Xi ally Li Qiang — former Shanghai party boss — as his successor this year was seen as a sign that his reformist agenda had fallen by the wayside as Beijing tightens its grip over its slowing economy. – AFP
