Former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang Dies At 68 After Suffering Heart Attack

Former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang Dies From Heart Attack On 27 Oct

Former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang passed away on Friday (27 Oct) after suffering a heart attack the day before. He was 68.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported that Li had suffered a heart attack while he was resting in Shanghai.

Source: OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development on Flickr

Li served as China’s premier for a decade till March this year when Li Qiang succeeded him.

Li Keqiang suffered heart attack while resting

According to CCTV, Li was resting in Shanghai when he suffered a sudden heart attack on Thursday (26 Oct).

Despite “all-out” attempts to resuscitate him, the 68-year-old passed away at 12.10am on Friday (27 Oct).

Li served as China’s Premier from 2013 to 2023, during which he was second in the hierarchy to President Xi Jinping.

Source: World Economic Forum on Flickr

While Xi continued his third term as President, Li Qiang took over as Premier, ending Li’s 10-year run.

Focused on providing affordable housing & narrowing wealth gap

According to the BBC, Li was known for being pragmatic with his economic policies, which focused on reducing the wealth gap and providing affordable housing.

However, President Xi reportedly sidelined him towards the end of his career, seeking to concentrate powers around himself.

In fact, during Li’s final term, he was the only incumbent top official who wasn’t from President Xi’s group of loyalists.

Li allegedly had a stronger alignment with former president Hu Jintao, who was famously escorted out of the 2022 Chinese Communist Party National Congress in front of international media.

As officials dragged Hu out of the chamber, he was seen tapping on Li’s shoulder. The latter visibly nodded in acknowledgement.

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Featured image adapted from Wikinews.