Li Keqiang promoted, on track to become China's premier

                              BEIJING: Li Keqiang stepped up to number two in China's Communist hierarchy on Thursday, but despite his seniority and affable manner he may struggle to exert real power as the country's next premier.
Vice Premier Li is expected to take over as premier from his boss Wen Jiabao in March, holding the reins of day-to-day government in the world's second-largest economy.
His rise is said to have been brokered by President Hu Jintao as part of a behind-the-scenes deal to bolster the influence of the Communist Youth League, where both men made their name.
But despite his high rank on the Politburo Standing Committee, analysts say Li does not have a power base of his own -- and risks being isolated.
A bureaucrat who speaks fluent English, Li, 57, has an easy smile and a more youthful bearing than his stiff party peers.
He has sought to nurture a reputation as a careful administrator and has voiced support for the kind of economic reforms many experts say China sorely needs -- but questions remain on his efficacy.
As party boss in Henan province, Li took flak for the handling of an HIV/AIDS epidemic stemming from a tainted government-backed blood donation programme. Entire villages were infected, but his provincial government responded with a clampdown on activists.
At the national level, a stream of health scandals have also happened on his watch.
"One concern with Li is that he has been dogged in the past with... not personal scandals, but policy embarrassments, particularly in Henan," said Patrick Chovanec, a professor at Tsinghua University.
"The perception of him is he is not necessarily seen as the most effective policy-maker out there."
The factional nature of the seven-man Politburo Standing Committee leaves him lacking "political heft", he added.
Xi Jinping, who is expected to take over as president in March and is a "princeling" seen as closer to former leader Jiang Zemin, will need to be convinced on policy matters if Li is to exert influence, he said.
"In a sense they are actually rivals for the top position," Chovanec added.
There are parallels with Li's current superior Wen, who also struggled to force through policies as he battled with factions in the upper reaches of the party, and officialdom in the provinces and ministries, say analysts.
Similarly, Wen cultivated an image as the friendly face of the Communist Party, voicing qualified support for political reform, comforting disaster victims and condemning corruption -- though a New York Times report last month said his relatives had amassed $2.7 billion in "hidden riches" since 1992.
Li, a native of eastern China's poor Anhui province, worked as a manual labourer before gained a law degree from Peking University and a doctorate in rural economics, then rose through the ranks of the Youth League
He became the party leader in Henan, in central China, and Liaoning province in the northeast, both of which prospered under him, before being promoted to Wen's deputy.
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