New | No more Chanel or Emilio Pucci for princeling Li Xiaolin at congress meeting, but critics unimpressed

Li Xiaolin, the daughter of former Chinese premier Li Peng, surprised her critics this week after she was snapped carrying a cloth bag to a session at the annual convention of a national political consultancy body in Beijing.

She now heads China Power International Development (CPI), and is known for her expensive tastes and her luxury attire. CPI is a Hong Kong-listed subsidiary of the State owned giant China Power Investment Corporation. 

Yet a photo published by Chinese newspapers on Tuesday showed that Li, dressed in a light coloured suit, was carrying a nondescript cloth bag into a session.   

In 2012, Li was photographed wearing a 14,000-yuan salmon-pink trouser suit designed by Emilio Pucci and a Chanel pearl necklace worth 8,000 yuan to the annual CPPCC conference in Beijing. It triggered a heated discussion on how political power intersects with personal wealth in the country, and many have speculated that she has benefited hugely from her father’s influence.

Li was first elected a delegate to the national advisory body in 2008, and is now serving her second 5-year term. 

In 2013, Li showed up at the Boao forum in Hainan wearing a dress by designer Azzedine Alaïa, a label that has also been worn by high-profile figures including Michelle Obama and Lady Gaga.