Newly elected Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (left) shakes hands with former premier Wen Jiabao during the 12th National People's Congress in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Friday. Photo: AFP


Li Keqiang was endorsed as China's premier at a plenary meeting of the country's top legislature on Friday, finalizing a once-in-a-decade leadership transition.

Nearly 3,000 deputies to the National People's Congress (NPC) voted to approve the nomination of Li, by newly elected President Xi Jinping, as premier, replacing Wen Jiabao, who had headed the State Council since 2003.

Li, 57, had served as vice premier since 2008, mainly handling macroeconomic adjustments and reforms. He was reelected a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee last November.

Li is expected to give his first press conference as premier of the country on Sunday, along with his deputies, who are to be elected Saturday.

Having a bachelor's degree in law and master's and doctorate degrees in economics, he is believed to be a suitable pick to steer the world's second largest economy, which is undergoing structural adjustments from one that overly relies on investment for growth to one that is driven by domestic consumption.

Chi Fulin, president of the Haikou-based China Institute for Reform and Development and a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), has met and exchanged ideas with the new premier on many occasions.

Chi told the Global Times Friday that given the fact that Li has a solid knowledge of economics and was in charge of the agricultural province of Henan as well as the industrial province of Liaoning, he has experience that could help him run the country in the years to come.

The scholar said that according to his observations, Li has a particular focus on urbanization, which he believes will provide the largest potential for expanding domestic consumption.

Throughout his time in office, Li has repeatedly stressed the importance of pushing forward urbanization.

After his reelection as member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Li targeted imbalances in the country's development between urban and rural areas and the gap between different groups within cities. "A new model should focus on the urbanization of people in the first place," he said in January.

In fact, the premier's focus on the urbanization drive could date back to the 1980s, when he was pursuing a master's degree at Peking University.

He wrote a master's thesis on the topic in 1988, which was later compiled into a book on economics co-authored by Li, his teacher Li Yining, a renowned economist in China, and Li Yuanchao, who was elected China's vice president on Thursday.

It's worth noting that the book concludes "reform is an irresistible trend."

Calling reform "the biggest dividend for China," the premier has used different occasions to facilitate reforms since last November.

"Reform is like rowing upstream. Failing to advance means falling back," he said at a symposium on advancing comprehensive reforms.

"Those who refuse to reform may not make mistakes, but they will be blamed for not assuming their historical responsibility," he said.

Chi, who was at meetings about the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) and the CPPCC discussions attended by Li Keqiang last year, also said the premier showed a particular emphasis on reforms to change the country's development pattern, and was open to advice on such reforms.

In addition to his education background in economics, Li also spent years studying law at Peking University.

According to people.com.cn, Li has extensive knowledge about constitutional government and comparative politics. He also translated a book about the history of the British constitution during that time.

Li, who can speak fluent English, is also regarded a leader with international perspective.

In August 2011, he gave a speech in both Chinese and English at the University of Hong Kong, impressing participants at the event.

The premier reads English works in his spare time and monitors the latest economic and technical developments around the world.

A few years ago, he instructed think tanks of the State Council to study the concepts of the "middle-income trap" and "inclusive growth" as proposed by the World Bank and the Asia Development Bank.

The Third Industrial Revolution authored by Jeremy Rifkin, president of the Foundation on Economic Trends, also caught Li's attention. He has asked the National Development and Reform Commission and the Development Research Center of the State Council to pay close attention to this research.

Li is married to Cheng Hong, an English professor at the foreign language department of the Capital University of Economics and Business.

The couple have one daughter.

Cheng has kept a low-profile and is focused on teaching and research. She is a leading expert in China for nature writing and eco-criticism, and has translated a series of US literature works including Wake-Robin, The Outer Most House and Wilderness.

According to the Oriental Outlook, Cheng gives Li guidance on English and corrects his pronunciation. Sometimes Li, his wife and their daughter hold their conversations in English.

Xinhua contributed to this story