Who was Li Keqiang? Former Chinese premier who died of heart attack

Li Keqiang, a former Chinese premier, has died after suffering a heart attack at the age of 68.

Keqiang, once the second-most powerful man in the ruling Chinese Communist Party, suffered a sudden heart attack on Thursday. He was on a holiday in Shanghai, state media reported. He passed away on Friday morning after attempts to revive him failed.

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Li was famous for his pragmatism in economic policies. During his final term, he was the only top official who was not a loyalist of Xi Jinping.

Here's everything you need to know about Li Keqiang.

Li Keqiang's Early Life & Rise In Politics

Li, the son of a local official, came from a humble background. He was born in July 1955 in Dingyuan County in Eastern China's Anhui province.

In his teenage years, Li witnessedturmoil during the Cultural Revolution for a decade (1966-76). In 1977, he enrolled at the Peking University to study law. He completed his master's degree in economics in 1988.

Keqiang was a proficient English speaker. He helped translate crucial legal works from English to Chinese, like The Due Process of Law by Lord Denning.

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His dissertation during his PhD in economics was about the structure of the Chinese economy, which won the Sun Yefang Economics Prize.

Li Keqiang spent his early political years in the Communist Party's youth movement, the Chinese Communist Youth League (CCYL). In 1982, he became the secretary of the CCYL committee at the Peking University.

Li Keqiang's Political Career

In 1988, Li became the youngest governor of a province in China, leading the Henan province.

In December 2004, he became the party secretary in the north-eastern province of Liaoning.

Li Keqiang became the vice-premier in March 2008. Many speculated that he would succeed Hu Jinato as the president. However, he lost to Xi Jinping. Amid much fanfare, Li became the premier in March 2013.

His economic policy's objective was to decrease China's dependency on debt-fuelled growth and steer the economy towards self-sustainability. It was termed as 'Likonomics.'

In March 2018, Li was re-elected as the premier for a second five-year term. Later, he retired as the party's top leadership and retired as premier in 2023.

Li Keqiang's Family

Not much is public about Li's personal life. He was married to Cheng Hong, an English professor. They have a daughter together.

(With inputs from agencies)

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