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Chinese Premier Li Qiang signals weaker role for State Council, analysts say
- In a departure from his predecessor, Li tells cabinet its job is to faithfully carry out Communist Party decisions
- Changes are the biggest revision of Deng Xiaoping’s efforts to separate the state and party, scholar says
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Vanessa Caiin Shanghai
China’s new premier, Li Qiang, has suggested the State Council’s role in national policy will diminish with his description of the cabinet as an implementer of party decisions, according to observers.
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At the first meeting attended by all members of the new State Council on Friday, Li said the government’s mission was to “ensure the sound and faithful implementation of the decisions and plans made by the Communist Party’s central leadership”.
“Each of our comrades should be a good implementer [who] … fully and accurately understands the party’s strategic intent … and ensures the party’s decisions and plans are effectively implemented,” state news agency Xinhua quoted him as saying.
Li’s remark came about a week after he was confirmed as the State Council’s new head.
A day before Li addressed the State Council, Beijing unveiled details of a sweeping reform plan to strengthen the party’s control over key areas including finance, technology and local governance.
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It is part of a bigger shift over the past 10 years in which President Xi Jinping has transferred more decision-making power – some of which originally belonged to the State Council – to party organs.
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