President Xi Jinping's aide Li Qiang to become China's premier

Li Qiang—said to be Chinese President Xi Jinping's close aide who brought about Shanghai's strict two-month COVID-19 lockdown last year—is likely to formally become China's next premier at the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) this week. His predecessor, Li Keqiang, stepped down from the Communist Party of China's (CPC) Politburo Standing Committee in October last year, following which Qiang was picked as China's second-in-command.