China's ruling Communist party has appointed Li Keqiang as premier, bringing a highly orchestrated leadership transition nearer its end.
The party-controlled legislature overwhelmingly selected Li, the only candidate for the office, which is China's number two position politically and its top job in practical terms. There were 2,940 votes in favour with one opposed and six abstaining. A day earlier the legislature similarly appointed Xi Jinping to the ceremonial post of president, making him China's pre-eminent leader following his ascent last November to head the Communist party and the military.
The final vote was a foregone conclusion but choosing the candidates had taken years of fractious behind-the-scenes bargaining. Li Keqiang is a protege of the now-retired President Hu Jintao, while Xi Jinping is the son of a revolutionary veteran with backing among party elders.
After Li's selection was announced he and Xi shook hands and smiled for photographers in the Great Hall of the People. On Saturday appointments to the cabinet and other top government posts are to be announced.
Xi and Li's main challenges are a misfiring economy overly dominated by powerful state industries and mounting public anger over widespread corruption, a burgeoning income gap and social inequality.
An increasingly vocal Chinese public is expressing impatience with the government's unfulfilled promises to curb abuses of power by local officials, better police the food supply and clean up the country's polluted rivers, air and soil.
"What do ordinary people care about? Food safety, and smog if you are in a big city, and official corruption," said the prominent Chinese author and social commentator Murong Xuecun, the pen name of author Hao Qun. "They just want to have a peaceful, stable and safe life. To have money and food, and live without worry of being tortured, or having their homes forcefully demolished.
"The entire country is watching for Xi's next step."
Li Qinghe, one of the National People's Congress delegates, even broke ranks to say he "resolutely endorsed" Xi's selection as president but: "I hope that he will pay more attention to problems affecting the people's lives." Li, a petrochemical plant worker and delegate from the north-eastern province of Heilongjiang, cited as his concerns jobs for rural migrants, schools for their children and affordable medical care.
Early indications of the new government's priorities came in a policy program delivered during last week's opening of the legislative session. It pledged to clean up the country's environment, fight pervasive graft and official extravagance and improve welfare benefits for the poor.
The report, delivered by Premier Wen Jiaobao in his last speech before stepping down, promised to give private companies a fairer chance to compete but did not say how Beijing would deal with big state companies controlling most of China's industries that economists have warned need to be curbed in order to preserve future growth.
Currently both the Communist party and the government enjoy little credibility with the public, said Zhang Ming, a China politics expert at Renmin University in Beijing. "The way to regain credibility is to at least show some results but at this point that can't be seen and I predict there won't be any real results later," Zhang said.
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