China Premier Li Keqiang bows out as Xi loyalists take reins

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is taking his final bow in a departure that marks a shift from the technocrats who have helped steer the world's second-biggest economy in favor of officials with unquestioned loyalty to President Xi Jinping. Once seen as a potential top leader, Li was increasingly sidelined as Xi accumulated ever-greater powers and elevated the military and security services to prominent positions. Analyst Carl Minzner says Li may be remembered less for what he achieved than for the fact that he was the last of the technocrats to serve at the top of the Chinese Communist Party. Li was dropped from the all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee in October.