Li Keqiang death: is China's reform era officially over?

Former premier was rare supporter of 'open-door policy' among Beijing's political elite

Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang with imperial lions
Li Keqiang, right, was China's premier from 2013 until March this year, but had recently been sidelined by President Xi Jinping
(Image credit: Illustrated / Getty Images)

A senior Chinese politician sidelined by President Xi Jinping has died of a heart attack at the age of 68.

As premier, Li Keqiang was "nominally China's No. 2 leader" and was in charge of the economy until late last year. He was "once seen as a reform-minded contender to the country’s top leadership role", said CNN.

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  Chas Newkey-Burden has been part of The Week Digital team for more than a decade and a journalist for 25 years, starting out on the irreverent football weekly 90 Minutes, before moving to lifestyle magazines Loaded and Attitude. He was a columnist for The Big Issue and landed a world exclusive with David Beckham that became the weekly magazine’s bestselling issue. He now writes regularly for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, Metro, FourFourTwo and the i new site. He is also the author of a number of non-fiction books.