Premier Li Qiang extends his authority

Premier Li Qiang is heading the Central Financial Commission (CFC). That's positive for economic and financial policy making.

On Monday, Premier Li chaired the first reported meeting of the CFC as the CFC’s director.

The job is super important:

• The CFC was established in March to coordinate the country's financial policies and regulations.

Li’s appointment is a bit of a surprise:

• The rationale for setting up the CFC was to give the Party, as compared to the government, direct control over financial policymaking.
• Premier Li is the second-ranked Party official, but his main job is to run the government.

Everybody thought that Xi Jinping would head the CFC.

• Of the 10 major new Party commissions that have been established since Xi took power, this is the first that Xi has not headed (with perhaps the exception of the recently created Central Commission for Science and Technology, whose membership we still do not know).

Get smart: This is another sign that Xi is delegating power to his trusted associates.

• That should lead to more pragmatic, and less ideologically-driven, financial policy.