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Friday, March 15, 2013

China's Li formally picked for premier

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's legislature elected Li Keqiang as premier on Friday, installing an English-speaking bureaucrat as the man to lead the world's second-largest economy and combat pressing woes like a frothy housing market and an over-reliance on investment.

The largely rubber-stamp National People's Congress, as expected, chose premier designate Li, 57, to replace Wen Jiabao.

China's Communist Party Chief Xi Jinping and Vice-Premier Li Keqiang arrive at the Great Hall of the People for the third plenary session of the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing March 10, 2013. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
China's Communist Party Chief Xi Jinping and Vice-Premier Li Keqiang arrive at the Great Hall of the People for the third plenary session of the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing March 10, 2013. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Nearly 3,000 delegates gathered in Beijing's cavernous Great Hall of the People to vote on Li's appointment, putting the final stamp of approval on a generational transition of power.

Xi Jinping was elected president by the legislature on Thursday.

(Reporting by Sui-Lee Wee; editing by Jonathan Standing)

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