China Cancels a News Conference, Shutting a Window for Its People

For more than 30 years, the Chinese premier’s annual news conference was the only time that a top leader took questions from journalists about the state of the country. It was the only occasion for members of the public to size up for themselves China’s No. 2 official. It was the only moment when some Chinese might feel a faint sense of political participation in a country without elections. On Monday, China announced that the premier’s news conference, marking the end of the country’s annual rubber-stamp legislature, will no longer…

China Scraps Premier’s Annual News Conference in Surprise Move

China’s premier will no longer hold a news conference after the country’s annual legislative meeting, Beijing announced on Monday, ending a three-decades-long practice that had been an exceedingly rare opportunity for journalists to interact with top Chinese leaders. The decision, announced a day before the opening of this year’s legislative conclave, was to many observers a sign of the country’s increasing information opacity, even as the government has declared its commitment to transparency and fostering a friendly business environment. It also reinforced how China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, has consolidated…

China’s Investors Are Losing Faith in Its Markets and Economy

Like many Chinese people, Jacky hoped that he could make enough money investing in China’s stock markets to help pay for an apartment in a big city. But in 2015 he lost $30,000, and in 2021 he lost $80,000. After that, he shut down his trading account and started investing in Chinese funds that track stocks in the United States. It’s a perilous time for investors in China. Their main vehicle, so-called A shares of Chinese companies, fell more than 11 percent in 2023 and have continued their losses this…

China seeks to stifle public grief for former premier Li Keqiang

Public tributes to China’s former premier Li Keqiang, who died on Friday, are being strictly controlled as the government seeks to prevent a mass outpouring of grief that could lead to social unrest. Li suffered a sudden heart attack in Shanghai and died in the early hours of Friday, according to Xinhua news agency. There have been public displays of grief, particularly in his home city of Hefei, in Anhui province, where hundreds of mourners laid flowers for one of their most significant sons. Social media is awash with tributes…

How China Mourned Li Keqiang Online, Until the Censors Stepped In

They posted videos on social media of the time he promised that China would remain open to the outside world. They shared photos of him, standing in ankle-deep mud, visiting victims of a flood. They even noted the economic growth target for the first year of his premiership: 7.5 percent. The death Friday of Li Keqiang, 68, prompted spontaneous mourning online. Mr. Li served as premier, China’s No. 2 official, for a decade until last March. Among many Chinese, Mr. Li’s death produced a swell of nostalgia for what he…

Li Keqiang, Former Chinese Premier, Dies of Heart Attack at 68

China’s former premier Li Keqiang died of a heart attack on Friday, Chinese state media announced — an abruptly early end to a leader who had served alongside Xi Jinping for a decade until March. Mr. Li, 68, was visiting Shanghai when he suddenly suffered the heart failure near midnight on Thursday, a report on Chinese state television said. “All efforts to resuscitate him failed,” said the report. Mr. Li was once considered a potential top leader of the ruling Chinese Communist Party. But in the end, he was overtaken…

Li Keqiang, former premier of China, dies aged 68 – state media

China’s former premier, Li Keqiang, has died, according to state media. He was 68. Li had a sudden heart attack and died in Shanghai in the early hours on Friday morning, according to China’s Xinhua news agency. Li became premier – the second highest ranked position in China’s political system – in 2013 and served for 10 years until March 2023 when he was replaced by Li Qiang. The son of a local official in the impoverished province of Anhui, he rose up the ranks through his involvement in the…

Xi Jinping vows to oppose Taiwan ‘pro-independence’ influences as third term begins

Xi Jinping has stressed the need to oppose “pro-independence” influences in Taiwan, as he closed the National People’s Congress (NPC) after a week in which the rubber-stamp parliament handed China’s president an unprecedented third presidential term, and key roles at the top of the government were reshuffled. Xi closed the session with a speech to the gathered delegates. On Friday he secured his place as China’s most powerful leader in generations in a carefully choreographed ceremony in Beijing. In his speech on Monday laying out his priorities for China, Xi…

Li Qiang: Xi Jinping, China’s president, names next premier

Xi Jinping has nominated Li Qiang, 63, to become premier during the continuing annual meeting of China’s rubber-stamp parliament, the official Xinhua news agency has reported. Li Qiang will replace Li Keqiang, who became premier in 2013 amid high hopes he would usher in liberal reforms. But his power was curbed by Xi, who increasingly sidelined Li Keqiang and placed allies in key strategic positions over him. Li Qiang is the former Communist party chief of Shanghai, China’s largest city. Li Keqiang is retiring during the National People’s Congress session…

‘A defeated person’: sidelined by Xi, China’s Li Keqiang bows out as premier

In a farewell speech after serving 10 years as China’s number two leader, the premier, Li Keqiang, had a cryptic message for his staff: “While people work, heaven watches. Heaven has eyes.” His unusually candid words, seen in a video clip on social media but unreported by official media, stoked speculation about whether he was making a veiled attack on President Xi Jinping. Li’s words betrays a deep sense of frustration over a decade in which he could have exerted his largely reformist agenda but was hamstrung by being in…