Despite a couple of stabs at humour, Premier Li Keqiang appeared more subdued on Wednesday than in previous press conferences.
Li took centre stage for a fourth post-National People’s Congress media briefing and sounded less ambitious than he did the first two times.
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In 2013, at his debut appearance as premier, Li said: “Talking the talk [on economic reforms] is not as good as walking the walk.” He also compared the resolve needed to slash red tape to the will needed to “cut one’s own wrists”.
There was no sign of such forthright remarks on Wednesday but he did try to crack a joke every few questions.
“I adore your Chinese, but maybe my hearing in Chinese is not so good due to my local accent,” Li said to a Reuters reporter, poking fun at his own Anhui accent. He went on to say he forgot to answer a question the reporter just raised, before giving a rough time frame for the launch of the Shenzhen-Hong Kong stock connect programme.
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Li also tried to lighter touch in response to a Bloomberg reporter’s question about how to transform the world’s second-largest economy under the weight of downturn pressure.
