China’s new cabinet leaders get to work, signalling their portfolios
- Liu Guozhong begins work on agricultural affairs while Shen Yiqin takes on employment and civil affairs roles
- The cabinet recently took shape after China’s new premier was appointed
China’s new cabinet members have started work in their roles, indicating their areas of responsibility.
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The assignments, which have not been made public, were handed out during a meeting of the State Council chaired by Li last week.
Liu chaired the National Spring Agricultural Production Work Conference in Sichuan province on Thursday, according to state news agency Xinhua, signalling that he had taken over the agricultural portfolio from former vice-premier Hu Chunhua.
Liu told officials to do whatever was necessary to reach the national annual target of 580 million tonnes of grain output to maintain the country’s food security. Before the meeting, Xinhua said Liu visited crop producers in Henan, Shandong and Sichuan.
A previous trip by Liu also suggested he took over public health responsibilities from former vice-premier Sun Chunlan.
In her debut as a state councillor, Shen Yiqin travelled to Jiangsu province for a three-day visit focused on employment issues, according to Xinhua, indicating that she will be responsible for job creation and civil affairs.
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Beijing has set a challenging goal of creating 12 million jobs, up from 11 million last year. The world’s second-largest economy faces weakened domestic and export demand, while coping with decoupling pressures from the United States and its allies.
Xinhua said Shen held an employment symposium, visited job markets and met educators and company and leaders in the cities of Changzhou and Nanjing.
