[News Figures] 'He Li Peng' Who Has Gained Full Control Over China's Economic Sector

Selected as Deputy Mayor of Shamen City in 1984
Possibility of Challenging for Politburo Standing Committee Raised

"He Lifeng" is the Vice Premier in charge of the economy of the State Council of China and the Director of the General Office of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission (Central Finance and Economics Commission) of the Communist Party.

Born in 1955 in Meizhou, Guangdong Province, he is 68 years old this year. Although born in Guangdong Province, he mainly lived in Fujian Province. He worked as a laborer at the Shantou Hydropower Plant in Fujian Province before entering Xiamen University at the age of 23, where he completed his bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees, then worked as a researcher at the Economic Research Institute under Xiamen City.

Chinese Vice Premier Hu Lipeng is attending the China-European Union (EU) High-Level Economic and Trade Dialogue held in Beijing on the 25th of last month.
[Photo by AFP Beijing/ Yonhap News]

In 1984, when Xi Jinping was serving as Vice Mayor of Xiamen City, He was selected to the Xiamen Municipal Office. Since then, he has maintained a relationship with President Xi for over 40 years and is known as a leading figure of the "Xijiajun (Xi's close-knit group)" along with Cai Qi and Wang Xiaohong, representing Xi's Fujian-born close associates.

He served as Deputy Director of the Xiamen Municipal Finance Bureau in 1985, Director of the Finance Bureau in 1990, Vice Mayor of Xiamen City in 1992, Mayor of Quanzhou in 1996, member of the Communist Party Fujian Provincial Committee in 2002, and Chairman of the Fujian Provincial People's Congress in 2007. In 2009, he was Secretary of the Communist Party Binhai New Area Committee in Tianjin City (vice-ministerial level), Chairman of the Tianjin Political Consultative Conference in 2013 (ministerial level), Deputy Director of the National Development and Reform Commission in 2014, and Director in 2017. He was one of President Xi's key strategists who designed the Belt and Road Initiative policy.

In 2018, he entered the central political arena while concurrently serving as Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. In October last year, he was promoted to a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China at the National Congress, and in March this year, he became Vice Premier. Along with Ding Xuexiang, Director of the Central Office (equivalent to Chief of Staff), he is one of President Xi's close aides who shadow his foreign activities.

On the 30th, Xinhua News Agency reported that "Vice Premier He met with Emmanuel Bonne, foreign policy advisor to the President of France, in Beijing the day before, exchanging practical and constructive views on economic cooperation between the two countries," introducing his title as a member of the Central Political Bureau and Director of the General Office of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission.

This is the first time Vice Premier He has appeared publicly in his capacity as Director of the General Office of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission. He has officially taken over the role previously held by former Vice Premier Liu He (71), leading the overall economy, effectively controlling full authority over economic affairs. Some observers suggest that his influence surpasses that of his predecessor Liu He, marking him as a dark horse who could challenge for a seat on the Politburo Standing Committee.