HONG KONG: China's Vice Premier Li Keqiang arrived in Hong Kong Tuesday as he looks to showcase himself ahead of a key leadership reshuffle in Beijing next year, and soothe tense relations with city officials.
Li, the expected successor to Premier Wen Jiabao as head of China's day-to-day administration, is making a three-day visit to Hong Kong with plans to speak about economic ties with the semi-autonomous territory.
Hong Kong's Chief Executive Donald Tsang led the dignitaries greeting Li at the city's airport, where the 56-year-old vice premier said he would announce new measures to boost Hong Kong's profile as a trade and finance hub.
The visit "shows the central government's concern and support for Hong Kong's development", Li told reporters.
"I hope to see more and listen more to deepen my understanding of Hong Kong."
Unofficially, Li is aiming to boost his own profile as Wen's term draws to a close in 2013, giving him "a precious opportunity to demonstrate his worth", said Willy Lam, a history professor at Chinese University of Hong Kong.
"(The trip) tells us about the political jockeying going on in Beijing ahead of next year's once-in-a-decade leadership change," Lam told AFP.
"Li has been cautious to a fault over the past few years and for good reason -- his power is not secure," he added.
But only the most senior Chinese politicians make official visits to Hong Kong -- a former British colony returned to China in 1997 -- so the trip all but guarantees that Li will be China's next premier, Lam said.
The visit comes amid strained relations with Hong Kong, despite increasing economic integration which has seen the city become a test bed for Beijing's bid to turn the yuan into a global currency to rival the US dollar.
Tensions flared last month when Wang Guangya, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the Chinese State Council, or cabinet, said local officials' colonial-era roots meant they "don't know how to be a boss".
Li will try to "endear himself to Hong Kong" and underscore that Beijing's hands-off policy toward the territory remains unchanged, Lam said.
"He will have to strike a balance," he said, adding that Li would likely avoid commenting on calls for political reform in the territory after the violent unrest that has spread across the Middle East.
"(Beijing) has been hyper-nervous about anything that could be conceived as a threat to the regime."
Hong Kong maintains its own political and legal system as part of the so-called "one country, two systems" model under which it returned to Chinese rule, and guarantees civil liberties not seen on the mainland.
The city government faces rising public anger over soaring property prices, while several protests have called on Beijing to speed up promised political reforms, including direct elections for Hong Kong's leader.
Small protests were expected during Li's visit, with activists calling for the release of political detainees and more information about a recent bullet-train crash in eastern China that killed at least 40 people.
Li's high-powered delegation reportedly includes Commerce Minister Chen Deming, People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan and National Development and Reform Commission chairman Zhang Ping.
"The presence of so many senior-ranking officials at Li's visit signals a very strong will to help boost Hong Kong's economy and Beijing's emphasis on Hong Kong," the Hong Kong Commercial Daily said on its front page Monday.
Li, a former Communist Party chief in the northeastern industrial province of Liaoning, was China's youngest provincial governor, taking charge of central Henan province at the age of 43.
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011
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