(UPDATE) BEIJING: Li Qiang, one of Chinese President Xi Jinping's most trusted allies, was confirmed as premier on Saturday, as Xi cements his influence on the East Asian country's top leadership.

Li, the former Shanghai communist party chief who oversaw the eastern city's grueling two-month coronavirus-prompted lockdown last spring, was named the successor of outgoing premier Li Keqiang at a meeting of the country's rubber-stamp parliament.

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