China’s Li Xiaopeng, son of former premier Li Peng, signals end to closely watched career

The former transport minister, a member of one of China’s most powerful families, takes semi-retirement role on political advisory body

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Li Xiaopeng’s family is also influential in China’s energy sector. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 4:00pm, 12 Oct 2024Updated: 5:43pm, 12 Oct 2024

Li Xiaopeng, son of former Chinese premier Li Peng, has taken a semi-retirement role on the country’s top political advisory body, drawing an end to the closely watched political career of a member of one of China’s most powerful families.

Li was assigned the role of deputy director of the economic affairs committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), state news agency Xinhua reported on Friday.

The position is commonly seen as a semi-retirement role without actual decision-making power in Chinese politics. The decision was announced at a two-day meeting of the advisory body’s standing committee that concluded on Friday.

Li served as Communist Party chief of the Ministry of Transport from May 2023 until his title was removed at the end of September, three months after he turned 65 – the de facto retirement age for ministerial-level officials in China.

Li was born in June 1959 in Beijing. He earned a bachelor’s degree from North China Electric Power University, where he studied electrical engineering.

He started his career as a technician at the system institute of the China Electric Power Research Institute in 1982 and rose through the ranks to become the head of the system institute in 1990.

He worked in the power industry until 2008, eventually becoming chairman of Huaneng Power, one of the country’s biggest electricity producers.