Ex-premier's son to take up Shanxi post
The eldest son of former premier Li Peng has resigned as chairman of a state-owned power company to become the vice-governor of coal-rich Shanxi province, sources and mainland media reports said.
Li Xiaopeng, 49, has resigned from Huaneng Power International and would be assigned a portfolio to oversee Shanxi's coal mining and gas business in his new role, sources said. His nomination is part of leadership changes in Shanxi.
Meng Xuenong - who was made Shanxi's governor only a few months ago - was again promoted to become the party chief of the northwestern province. The move completed a remarkable political comeback since he was sacked as Beijing's mayor in 2003 for the mishandling of the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak. He was demoted to deputy director of the South-North Water Diversion Project office.
But Mr Meng, widely considered a protege of President Hu Jintao because of their shared Youth League background, resurrected his career last autumn during a sweeping leadership reshuffle. That occurred ahead of the all-important, five-yearly party congress, at which Mr Hu consolidated his power and was reconfirmed as party leader until 2012.
Mr Meng will replace Zhang Baoshun , who will be transferred to the Central Party School, a training base to groom future leaders.
It was unclear who would replace Mr Meng as governor.
Shanxi now has seven vice-governors. Caijing magazine said Mr Li, an electrical engineer, will fill the vacuum left by vice-governor Liang Bin, who will head the provincial party's watchdog - the disciplinary inspection commission - in the neighbouring province of Hebei .
Mr Li resigned from the power firm with immediate effect on Monday, according to a company statement. It said Mr Li had no disagreements with the company, but gave no reason for the resignation.
Vice-chairman Huang Yongda will temporarily stand in as acting chairman.
Lin Boqiang , director of Xiamen University's Centre for China Energy Economics Research, said the appointment would help Mr Li's career. 'I think it would be good local political and administrative experience in Shanxi for Mr Li, if he one day ends up assuming some leadership position in the energy portfolio at the central government level, possibly the next government.'
Donovan Huang, an analyst at Nomura Securities who covers the coal and power sectors, said Mr Li would be influential in 'helping lobby for higher power tariffs from the angle that coal price increases will be constrained as long as power tariffs are still being frozen'.
His father, Li Peng, is a controversial political figure because of his role in the Tiananmen crackdown of June 4, 1989. He was also criticised for pushing through the Three Gorges Dam project and for his conservative political views. But he wielded considerable influence in the party.
His daughter, Li Xiaolin, heads another important state-owned power firm, China Power International Development.
