A leading China watcher yesterday voiced confidence in the three members of the Politburo who are widely expected to become vice-premiers overseeing economy-related portfolios.
Pei Minxin, director of the China Programme at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, told a post-party congress seminar in Hong Kong he believed the new team would be 'as strong as, if not stronger' than the team it will replace.
It is expected that Li Keqiang , a new face on the Politburo Standing Committee, will become the State Council's executive vice-premier to fill the vacancy left by Huang Ju , who died in June, while Politburo members Wang Qishan and Zhang Dejiang will take over from vice-premiers Zeng Peiyan and Wu Yi .
Professor Pei told the seminar, organised by the Asia Society, that although Mr Li might lack 'central-level' experience because his previous experience in the central government was running the Communist Youth League and he had mainly worked in Hunan and Liaoning , he understood economics better than his predecessor. 'If you compare him with his predecessor, Huang Ju was sick most of the time ... and on top of that Li Keqiang at least had some formal economics training,' he said.
The Liaoning party chief has a law degree and a PhD in economics from Peking University.
Professor Pei said Mr Zhang was a 'skilled administrator at the local level' whose toughest challenge would be to establish his international credibility because 'Wu Yi is almost irreplaceable given her experience, her leadership and international credibility'.