Big data unveils priorities through Chinese premier's choice of words

People's Daily, August 2, 2015

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivers a speech

The China Business News mines Premier Li Keqiang's records of 100 or so State Council meetings that Li has chaired to paint a picture of the central government's key policy directions.

The word "finance" gained the most mentions, in those gatherings Li chaired since he became Premier, coming up 146 times, followed by 140 references to "employment", 125 to the phrase "people's livelihood", and 115 to "fiscal management".

China Business News report yesterday that since March 2013, 19 of Li's State Council meetings had focused on reform, 17 on people's livelihood, 14 on streamlining government, 11 on public service, and 10 on business start-ups and innovation.

Analysts said "finance" and "reform" had become catchwords, reflecting the government's pledge to advance ambitious reforms to overhaul the country's financial system and state-owned enterprises, the last remnants of the Stalinist command economy.

To draw a conclusion, Premier Li’s main responsibility is economics and management. During his reign, Li made it his priority to cut the government's power to intervene in the markets and to reduce the number of investments needing state approval.