Li Keqiang Dies: 5 Points On China's Pro-Reform Former Premier

Li Keqiang, the pro-reform Chinese former Premier, died after suffering a heart attack. He was 68. During his time as premier, Mr Li cultivated an image as a more modern Communist Party leader compared to his stiffer colleagues.

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Li Keqiang died at the age of 68 on Friday.

Li Keqiang, the pro-reform Chinese former Premier, died after suffering a heart attack. He was 68. During his time as premier, Mr Li cultivated an image as a more modern Communist Party leader compared to his stiffer colleagues.

Here are 5 points on Li Keqiang:
  1. He was the son of a minor party official in eastern China's Anhui province. Mr Li was a career bureaucrat before entering politics who spoke fluent English.
  2. Li Keqiang was sent to the countryside by his family to work as a labourer during the tumultuous Cultural Revolution of 1966 to 1976.
  3. He studied law at Peking University, where classmates say he embraced Western liberalism. But he became more orthodox after joining the Communist Party in the mid-1980s.
  4. Under Mr Li's watch, China's economy began to slow from the dizzying heights experienced in the 1990s and 2000s.
  5. During his 10-year-long tenure, Mr Li focused on improving conditions for entrepreneurs, wooing foreign investors, cutting red tape and boosting incomes for the poor.
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