Man once ‘most likely’ to replace Chinese President Xi Jinping named as a vice-premier
Former party chief of country’s richest province expected to be tasked with driving out poverty
Once considered a possible future president, Hu Chunhua was on Monday installed as one of China’s four vice-premiers on the penultimate day of the National People’s Congress in Beijing.
His appointment, along with those of fellow deputies Sun Chunlan, Liu He and Han Zheng, and five State Councillors, was confirmed as President Xi Jinping put pen to paper in front of almost 3,000 lawmakers at the Great Hall of the People.
The former Communist Party chief of Guangdong province – China’s richest – Hu was the only one of the four vice-premiers to receive no opposition votes, although one delegate did abstain.
While the deputies’ precise portfolios have yet to be announced, the 55-year-old is expected to drive Xi’s campaign to stamp out poverty, and oversee agricultural affairs.
From humble beginnings – he was born into a poor family in central China’s Hubei province – Hu has steadily climbed to the highest ranks of China’s power structure. As well as being a vice-premier he is also one of the 25 members of the party’s Politburo.
