If Shanghai Communist Party chief Li Qiang has been politically bruised by the city’s struggle to tame a COVID-19 outbreak that has infuriated residents and caused severe economic damage, there is little sign of it.
A close ally of President Xi Jinping for decades, Li has long been seen as destined for the powerful Politburo Standing Committee this year, tracking a well-worn path from Shanghai’s top spot that many analysts say appears safe despite the city’s COVID crisis.
Outbreaks have derailed the careers of some local Chinese officials. But they did not share Li’s stature or history with Xi, under whom the boss of China’s most populous city has risen steadily through the party ranks.
And while Xi may be China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, he needs a core of staunch loyalists on the seven-member Standing Committee.
To be sure, the opacity of Chinese politics and Xi’s willingness to break with precedent – he scrapped presidential term limits – make predictions difficult for the once-in-five-years Communist Party congress this autumn that will determine Xi’s next leadership lineup.
