the failure of his country to produce a good quality version of this seemingly-simple implement. Locally-made versions felt "rough" compared to those from Germany, Switzerland and Japan, Mr Li complained. On one level, whether China can make a great pen is not hugely important in the scheme of things. High-tech and innovative manufacturing lie at the heart of the central government's Made in China 2025 programme – designed to help domestic growth. Relatively low-value items, like ballpoint pens, have not been a priority. But the pen-conundrum was a symbolic one. About much more than pens, his goal is to encourage independence and innovation. The pen tip issue was first brought into the spotlight by Li Keqiang, offering an insight into a major issue confronting Chinese manufacturers – weak competitiveness in core technology. State-owned Taiyuan Iron and Steel (Group) Co plans to mass-produce ballpoint pen tips and replace imports in two years, company officials said in 2017. Xi–Li Administration At the Third Plenum of the 18th Central Committee held in the fall of 2013, the Communist Party announced far reaching economic and social reforms. However, the document outlining the reforms was drafted under the leadership of Xi, Liu Yunshan and Zhang Gaoli, and Li was ostensibly not involved in preparing the document. This departure from convention (Wen Jiabao was the principal drafter of documents behind the reforms announced at the Third Plenum of 2003) led to speculation that Li was becoming marginalized in the new administration, and that the widely touted "Xi-Li Administration" in fact did not exist, as power was increasingly being centralized under the hands of Xi as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party. Following the Third Plenum of 2013, Xi amassed a series of leadership roles on four new powerful supra-ministerial bodies overseeing "comprehensively deepening reforms", the internet, military reform, and also the National Security Commission. The "deepening reforms" leading group was said to be encroaching on the affairs in the economic realm normally handled by the premier, and was seen as having the effect of reducing Li's institutional power. However, Li appeared in official press releases as Xi's foremost lieutenant, being named Vice Chairman of the National Security Commission, in addition to becoming the deputy leader of leading groups on "deepening reforms", internet security, and the economy and finance. On 18 March 2018, Li was reappointed premier of China after receiving 2,964 votes in favour