China hopes consumers can reboot its economy

China should give priority to “recovery and expansion of consumption,” Premier Li Keqiang said Sunday in his state of the nation report. The county’s economy has slumped since mid-2021. Li said China would aim for around 5 percent economic growth in 2023, and that it would increase its military budget by 7.2 percent. The International Monetary Fund and some private firms forecast that Chinese economic growth will be as low as 4.4 percent. Delivering the report is likely to be the last official task of Li, who in October exited the Politburo Standing Committee, one of the Communist party’s decision-making committees.

Who is Li, and why is he important? Many once considered Li as a potential top leader for China, after serving as the country’s second-place leader since 2013. But he has remained sidelined by Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Xi’s increasing accumulation of power. He has been described as someone who is not purely loyal to Xi, and he has demonstrated a streak of candor throughout his time.

Dig deeper: Read William Inboden’s report about China’s recent spy balloon incident in the United States—and whether it will wake up America.