BEIJING yesterday elected Communist Party stalwart, Mr Li Qiyan, to head the municipal government, replacing the outgoing mayor, Mr Chen Xitong, who becomes the city's party boss.
Mr Li, 55, is said to be a strong disciplinarian, having worked in the fields of internal security and party building in Beijing for most of the last decade.
As such, Mr Li is not expected to tolerate any moves towards greater political liberalisation within Beijing during his five-year stewardship.
However, Mr Li, who is believed to be Mr Chen's personal choice as successor, is considered a moderate when it comes to economic policy.
''He will wholeheartedly endorse the party's current economic policy, but will never lead from the front, or he will be seen to be dragging his heels,'' a local political observer said.
In a short speech following his election yesterday, Mr Li said he was ''determined to study [Deng Xiaoping's] theory of building socialism with Chinese characteristics, uphold the party's basic line without wavering and work together with the people to elevate the capital's modernisation and construction to a new level''.
The mayor of Beijing has traditionally been a senior figure within the party hierarchy and Mr Li is no exception. He is a member of the national party's Central Committee and deputy secretary of the Beijing municipal party.
