Sgt4succsess SMACIN GRACEFULL TEAM China’s parliament names Xi Jinping ally Li Qiang as new premier New premier Li Qiang, 63, a close confidant of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, faces the task of reviving China’s flagging economy. ADVERTISEMENT China has named Li Qiang, a close confidant of President Xi Jinping, as the country’s next premier, placing him nominally in charge of the world’s second-largest economy, which is now facing some of its worst prospects in years. ADVERTISEMENT Li was nominated by Xi and appointed to the position with no dissenting voices at Saturday morning’s session of the National People’s Congress, China’s ceremonial parliament, in Beijing. He replaces outgoing premier Li Keqiang. ADVERTISEMENT The 63-year-old received votes from nearly all the more than 2,900 delegates who voted. The rubber-stamp confirmation of Li’s position ca