German President Steinmeier, currently visiting China, stated in a speech at Peking University on October 30 that China should not let other countries become overly dependent on it. On October 31, he met with Xi Jinping and Li Qiang, with Li Qiang stating that China is willing to import more high-quality products from Germany.
According to Yonhap News Agency and Reuters, on October 24 Kim Jong-un arrived in Dandong, Liaoning, via the new Yalu River Bridge, visiting China again after more than a year, and State Council Premier Li Qiang met with him in Dandong.
On October 23, Chinese Premier Li Qiang presided over the State Council executive meeting, calling for accelerating the building of a fertility-friendly society, improving policies on marriage, childbirth, child-rearing and education, optimizing family support measures such as fiscal and tax, social security and housing policies, and striving to stabilize the scale of the newborn population.
Xinhua News Agency announced personnel appointments: Wang Jinjian, former secretary of the Yangzhou Municipal Party Committee in Jiangsu, has been transferred across provinces to serve as a member and standing member of the Yunnan Provincial Party Committee, seen as Li Qiang laying groundwork in advance at the local level.
According to reports from AFP and Radio France Internationale, the new Yalu River bridge connecting China and North Korea officially went into operation on Thursday, with trucks beginning to cross the bridge. Chinese Premier Li Qiang attended and delivered a speech. The opening of the bridge further strengthened North Korea's ties with its neighbors, drawing the attention of Dandong residents, who expressed hope of visiting the opposite bank.
Yin Ke, a former official of the Chinese Communist Party's Jiangsu-Zhejiang system, revealed that the CCP's next top leadership may be reshuffled: Xi Jinping will retain the chairmanship of the Central Military Commission, while Li Qiang will serve as General Secretary and President of the country, sparking outside speculation about the distribution of spoils within Xi's faction and power struggles at the top.
An earthquake struck Nagqu in Tibet. Xi Jinping gave important instructions, and the official press release unusually listed Li Qiang alongside him, sparking speculation about the power arrangement.
From September 16 to 17, 2026, the National Advanced Manufacturing Conference was held in Beijing. Li Qiang, Zhang Guoqing, and Wu Zhenglong attended. Xi Jinping himself did not attend; Xinhua News Agency only reported on its front page on September 17 that he had given important instructions on developing advanced manufacturing.
After Li Qiang was promoted to Secretary of the Dalian Municipal Party Committee, Yao Huaming succeeded him as Deputy Secretary of the Dalian Municipal Party Committee, and on September 15 was appointed Vice Mayor and Acting Mayor of Dalian.
On September 12, the central government approved the appointment of Li Qiang as a member of the Standing Committee of the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee and Secretary of the Dalian Municipal Party Committee. On the same day, the former Dalian Municipal Party Secretary, Xiong Maoping, stepped down from his positions as Deputy Secretary of the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee, member of the Provincial Standing Committee, and Secretary of the Dalian Municipal Party Committee. Li Qiang previously served as the Mayor of Dalian.
On September 12, 2026, Li Qiang, a local official in Liaoning (a different person from the State Council premier of the same name), was appointed to the Standing Committee of the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee and as secretary of the Dalian Municipal Party Committee; the former secretary relieved of his post was Xiong Maoping.
Li Qiang went to the flood site accompanied by local officials and subsequently ordered people to evacuate; the related account mentioned the risk of a barrier lake.
Li Qiang presided over a State Council meeting, calling for persisting in expanding domestic demand, focusing on the principal contradiction, seizing on areas with long industrial chains and large scale, and promoting the domestic economic cycle and consumption upgrading.
Reports of an internal clash within the Chinese Communist Party emerged during the Beidaihe meeting. Xi Jinping did not appear in public for several days, with only Li Qiang, Cai Qi and others attending related activities, sparking speculation abroad about changes at the top of Chinese politics.
On July 31, 2026, China's State Council promulgated the State Council Regulations on Exit and Entry Administration, signed by Li Qiang, which incorporate harm to industrial security and technological security into the circumstances for restricting citizens' exit, granting administrative departments greater discretion in exit border controls.