Yang Xiaodu Named To Lead Powerful Anti-graft Body

China's legislature on Sunday appointed Li Keqiang to a second five-year term as premier, and approved the appointment of Yang Xiaodu as head of a new super anti-corruption agency with sweeping powers.

The National People's Congress voted 2,964 to 2 to approve Li's appointment. That comes a day after party leader Xi Jinping was reappointed as President with no limits on how many terms he can serve.

The premier traditionally is the top economic official but Xi, the country's most dominant leader since Mao Zedong, has stripped Li of many of the post's most prominent duties by appointing himself to lead party bodies that oversee economic reform and state industry.

The legislature also approved the appointment of Yang Xiaodu as director for the National Supervisory Commission, created from a merger of the party's internal anti-graft watchdog with one that oversees civil servants. It will have the power to detain suspects for up to six months without seeking court approval.

Political analysts see the creation of the anti-graft agency as part of efforts to enforce party control over an increasingly complex society and government.

A marathon anti-corruption campaign led by Xi has snared thousands of government officials and managers of state companies. However many observers say it has also been used to remove any potential challengers to his rule.

Xi has been steadily tightening central control over the government and state industry while also stepping up efforts to crush dissent.

Also Saturday, a key Xi ally, Wang Qishan, was appointed to the previously ceremonial post of vice president.

Meanwhile, former DAB chairman Tam Yiu-chung has been voted in as a member of the elite Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

About 99 percent of delegates voted in favour of the veteran pro-Beijing politician. Tam's predecessor, Rita Fan, had a support rate of about 95 percent in 2013. Former Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office director Wang Guangya was also elected as a new member of the NPCSC. (AP)