Vice-premiers' activities may shed light on division of labour in State Council

The division of labour between the State Council's four vice-premiers and five state councillors, appointed last week, has yet to be made public, but the activities of two of the vice-premiers this week may shed light on their responsibilities.

Zhang Gaoli inspected 10 of the 25 ministries and ministerial-level agencies under the State Council.

Among them were the National Development and Reform Commission, the superministry in charge of overall economic operations, and the Ministry of Finance, state media reported yesterday.

Zhang also visited the housing, environmental protection and lands ministries and the tax and statistics bureaus.

Wang Yang, the youngest vice-premier of the four, was in Moscow a day ahead of President Xi Jinping's arrival on his first foreign trip. Xinhua reported that Wang attended meetings and functions promoting bilateral tourism, met local Chinese businessmen and officiated at the opening of a China Construction Bank branch.

As a member of the Communist Party's supreme, seven-member Politburo Standing Committee, Zhang will oversee the economy and assist Premier Li Keqiang, placing him higher in the hierarchy than the other three vice-premiers, who are all members of the wider 25-member Politburo.