Li Keqiang | Chinese Politician & Prime Minister

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He holds an M.A. in Japanese studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. As part of his master's program,...</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> Kenneth Pletcher</span></div> <div class="font-serif font-12 text-gray-700"> <span class="qa-fact-checked-by">Fact-checked by</span> <div class="editor-popover popover p-0"> <a class="d-block p-20 font-12" href="/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419" > <div class="editor-title font-16 font-weight-bold">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 text-black">Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link font-12 "> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div> <div class="last-updated font-12 font-serif"> <span class="text-gray-700"> Last Updated: <time datetime="2024-10-23T00:00:00CDT" >Oct 23, 2024</time> •</span> <a class="byline-edit-history" href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Li-Keqiang/additional-info#history" rel="nofollow">Article History</a> </div></div> </div> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button d-none d-sm-block js-sections-inline-button module-spacing btn d-lg-none"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <div class="d-flex d-sm-none flex-row"> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button js-sections-inline-button module-spacing"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 ai-ask-button btn border-2 module-spacing btn-sm js-inline-ai-ask-button btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 p-10 ml-5"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> </div> <div class="js-qf-module qf-module px-40 px-sm-20 py-15 mx-auto module-spacing font-14 bg-gray-50 rounded"> <div class="qf-title font-weight-bold font-14 mb-10 text-center"> Quick Facts</div> <div class="facts-list mt-10"> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Born: </dt> <dd>July 1, 1955, <a href="/place/Hefei">Hefei</a>, Anhui province, <a href="/place/China">China</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Died: </dt> <dd>October 27, 2023, <a href="/place/Shanghai">Shanghai</a>, <a href="/place/China">China</a> (aged 68)</dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Title / Office: </dt> <dd><a href="/topic/prime-minister">prime minister (2013-)</a>, <a href="/place/China">China</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/governor-government-official">governor (1998-2003)</a>, <a href="/place/Henan">Henan</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Political Affiliation: </dt> <dd><a href="/topic/Chinese-Communist-Party">Chinese Communist Party</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> <div class="text-center"> <a class="btn btn-sm btn-link p-0" href="/facts/Li-Keqiang"> See all related content </a> </div> </div> </div> </div><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref1"><span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph"><strong><span id="ref1174085"></span>Li Keqiang</strong> (born July 1, 1955, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Hefei" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Hefei</a>, Anhui province, China—died October 27, 2023, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Shanghai" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Shanghai</a>, China) was a Chinese politician and government official who served as <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/prime-minister" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">premier</a> of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/China" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">China</a> from 2013 to 2023.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Li grew up in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Anhui" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Anhui</a> province in east-central China, where his father was a local official. His formal schooling was interrupted in 1974–78 during the latter part of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Cultural-Revolution" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Cultural Revolution</a> and early post-<a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mao-Zedong" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Mao Zedong</a> years, when he was sent to a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="commune" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/commune" data-type="EB">commune</a> in eastern Anhui. He joined the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chinese-Communist-Party" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Chinese Communist Party</a> (CCP) in 1976 and served as the secretary of the party’s commune branch. In 1978 he was given the chance to attend college and enrolled at <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Peking-University" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Peking University</a> in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Beijing" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Beijing</a>. He became immersed in school and party politics while there and received a degree from the university’s law department in 1982. Upon graduation he joined the leadership of the Chinese Communist Youth League (CCYL), where he became acquainted with future president of China <span id="ref1174379"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hu-Jintao" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Hu Jintao</a> (who at that time was a leader of the organization). The two soon developed a close relationship.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Li rose through the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="hierarchy" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hierarchy" data-type="MW">hierarchy</a> of the CCYL in the 1980s and ’90s, becoming the head (first secretary) of it in 1993. At the same time, he also earned advanced degrees in economics from Peking University. In 1998 he moved into the leadership of the CCP in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Henan" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Henan</a> province, where he served first as acting governor (1998–99) and then as governor (1999–2003) before becoming provincial secretary of the party (2002–04). Li had mixed success during his time in office there, as he was <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="credited" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/credited" data-type="EB">credited</a> with considerably improving the provincial economy but was dogged by a scandal surrounding an official cover-up of the poor treatment of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/AIDS" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">AIDS</a> patients who had been infected through an unscrupulous blood-donation program. He was officially lauded for his handling of the issue, however, and in 2004 he was named party secretary in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Liaoning" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Liaoning</a> province, where he also chaired (2005–07) the standing committee of the provincial legislature. He drew generally positive notice there, particularly for his efforts to increase the availability of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/affordable-housing" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">affordable housing</a> for workers.</p><div class="module-spacing"> </div><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In 2007 Li made the jump to the national CCP leadership, when he was elected to the party’s all-powerful standing committee of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Politburo" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Political Bureau</a> (Politburo). From 2008 he also served as China’s executive vice premier. By that time <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="speculation" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/speculation" data-type="EB">speculation</a> had grown that Li was being groomed to succeed Hu Jintao as China’s president. It soon became apparent, however, that another rising star—<a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Xi-Jinping" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Xi Jinping</a>, who also had become a member of the Political Bureau standing committee in 2007—was the likely candidate for the post, after he was first elected vice president of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/nation-state" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">country</a> in 2008 and then vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (which President Hu chaired) in 2010. At the 18th CCP party conference in November 2012, Li was again elected to the standing committee, and he was tapped to succeed <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wen-Jiabao" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Wen Jiabao</a> as premier. He was elected to that office on March 15, 2013, during the National People’s <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="Congress" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/Congress" data-type="EB">Congress</a> in Beijing. Li retired in March 2023 and was succeeded by Li Qiang. Later that year, Li Keqiang died unexpectedly of a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/heart-attack" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">heart attack</a>.</p><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="md-signature"><a href="/editor/Kenneth-Pletcher/6746">Kenneth Pletcher</a></span><span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article></div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":1,"pageId":1490331,"pageLength":509,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.14"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.130.14' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"B","adLeg":"B","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"BIO_MEDIUM","gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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Li Keqiang | Chinese Politician & Prime Minister | Britannica