Mr. Shangkong | Where was Li Keqiang at the opening ceremony of Shanghai free-trade zone?
Absence of Premier Li Keqiang and other top officials at the launch of Shanghai hub shows that the road to change will not be a smooth one
I was partly right. In fact, the free-trade zone may not just be about Li's economic ambitions; it may also be a reflection of the competition between the reformers and the conservatives in high-level mainland politics.
Who wins in this planned first round of economic reforms - centred on Shanghai's free-trade zone - will signal the mainland's political direction in the coming years, if not decades.
Yesterday, the zone was officially launched. To the disappointment of some, the highest-ranking official from Beijing at the ceremony in the new zone was Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng.
"Where is Li Keqiang? Where is Vice-Premier Wang Yang? Where is central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan?" Those were the most-asked questions among Shanghai officials as well as on the internet, where some northerners took the chance to tease the Shanghainese, saying the zone might not be so important, after all.
So, where Li? Why didn't he go to Shanghai or even bother to send one of his deputies, such as Wang, to the launch? All the three financial industry regulators - for banking, securities and insurance - sent only vice-chairmen rather than their No1 bosses to the ceremony. Why?
Wasn't it strange, if the free-trade zone is as important as the State Council makes it out to be?
