BEIJING: Li Qiang, the former Communist Party chief of Shanghai, took office on Saturday as China`s premier, the country`s No 2 post, putting the close ally of President Xi Jinping in charge of reviving an economy battered by three years of Covid-19 curbs.

Widely perceived to be pragmatic and business-friendly, the 63-year-old Li faces the daunting task of shoring up China`s uneven recovery amid global headwinds and weak confidence among consumers and the private sector.

Li takes office as tensions rise with the West over a host of issues including US moves to block China`s access to key technologies.

Li was put on track to become premier in October when he was appointed to the number-two role on the Politburo Standing Committee during the twicea-decade Communist Party Congress.

Numerous other Xi-approved officials are due to be confirmed on Sunday including vice premiers, a central bank governor and other ministers and department heads.

Uneven recovery China`s economy grew just three per cent last year and on the opening day of parliament, Beijing set a modest 2023 growth target of around 5pc, its lowest goal in nearly three decades.

Li`s top t ask this year will be beating that target without triggering serious inflation or piling on debt, said Chris-topher Beddor, deputy China research director at Gavekal Dragonomics.

China`s post-pandemic recovery has been uneven, with February inflation unexpectedly soft, while Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com Inc warned on Thursday that rebuilding consumer confidence would take time.

`Approachable` and `business-friendly` Domestically, however, Li is seen by many as an approachable leader with a matter-of-fact manner.

Hu Shuli, the founder of the reputable financial magazine Caixin, described Li as `low-key and pragmatic` after he interviewed Li in 2013 when he was governor of Zhejiang, his home province.

A colleague of Li`s from Zhejiang told local media in 2016 that Li was `especially good at listening to and incorporating views from all parties when making decisions`.

Li started his career as an irrigation pump station worker near his hometown. His three decades spent working in the Yangtze Delta, the country`s economic powerhouse, earned him a business-friendly reputation.

Trusted by Xi Li`s links to China`s most powerful leader in generations go back to the early 2000s when he was chief of staff to Xi, then party boss of Zhejiang.

Li was later parachuted into Jiangsu by Xi in 2016 after a corruption scandal took down several provincial officials. His loyalty to Xi is viewed by some analysts as an impediment to making his mark in solving these problems and a way for the president to assert his own economic agenda.

-Agencies