Li Keqiang (born 1 July 1955) is a Chinese politician who is the outgoing premier of China. An economist by profession, Li is head of China's executive branch as well as one of the leading figures behind China's Financial and Economic Affairs, Foreign Affairs, National Security and Deepening Reforms. He was also the second-ranked member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the de facto top decision-making body of the country from 2012 to 2022. Li is a major part of the "fifth generation of Chinese leadership" along with Xi Jinping, the CCP general secretary. Li rose through the ranks through his involvement in the Communist Youth League. From 1998 to 2004, Li served as the governor of Henan and the province's party secretary. From 2004 to 2007 he served as the Party Secretary of Liaoning, the top political office in the province. From 2008 to 2013, Li served as the first-ranked vice premier under then-premier Wen Jiabao, overseeing a broad portfolio which included economic development, price controls, finance, climate change, and macroeconomic management. Given his Youth League experience, Li has generally been considered a political ally of former leader Hu Jintao. Initially seen as a candidate for becoming the paramount leader, Li instead assumed the post of premier in 2013, and has facilitated the Chinese government's shifting of priorities from export-led growth to a greater focus on internal consumption. Additionally, Li and his cabinet initiated the Made in China 2025 strategic plan in May 2015. Economically seen as advocating liberalization, Li has been described as representing the more pragmatic and technocratic side of China's leadership. Some believe that Li has been sidelined by Xi Jinping's consolidation of power. Early life and education Li Keqiang was born on 1 July 1955 in Hefei, Anhui province. His father was a local official in Anhui. Li graduated from Hefei No.8 Senior High School in 1974, during the Cultural Revolution, and was sent for rural labour in Fengyang County, Anhui, where he eventually joined the Chinese Communist Party and made his way in becoming the party head of the local production team. He was awarded the honor of Outstanding Individual in the Study of Mao Zedong Thought during this time. Li refused his father's offer of grooming him for the local county's party leadership and entered Peking University Law School, where he became the president of the university's student