Former Chinese premier Li Keqiang dies aged 68

Li Keqiang, the former premier of China and a one-time political rival to Chinese President Xi Jinping, has died after a sudden heart attack in Shanghai.

Li, who was the second most powerful man in China until he retired from the premiership in March, died just after midnight on Friday.

Chinese state media service Xinhua reported that Li was resting in Shanghai when he had a heart attack and all resuscitation measures had failed. He was 68-years-old.

Li’s death is the third shock to hit the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party in recent months after former foreign minister Qin Gang was sacked in July and former defence minister Li Shangfu was formally removed from his position on Wednesday.

Li Keqiang, an economist from a rival faction to Xi who held less hard-line Marxist-Leninist views than the Chinese president, saw his power slowly whittled away during his decade in power.

Li was an ally of former president Hu Jintao when he was first appointed premier in 2013. But those old alliances were worn down by Xi through purges and corruption campaigns, leaving no alternative factions represented in China’s top cabinet by the time Li left office earlier this year.

Widely regarded as less nationalistic and more economically liberal than Xi, Li used his final policy address this year to acknowledge the “difficulties, challenges, and great sacrifices” of the Chinese people throughout the pandemic after thousands piled onto the streets late last year to demand an end to lockdowns.

Li said China should expand market access and continue to open the modern services sector and “ensure national treatment for foreign-funded companies”.

In his final remarks, he pledged his loyalty to his leader.