Liu Zhou


 * ''This is a ; the is

Li Zhou (: 李週; : Lǐ Zhōu) is a Manchurian politician and businesswomen who has served as the incumbent Premier of Manchuria since 2013. Li was also formally the leader of the National Liberal Party, the largest party in the ruling coalition in the Supreme National Assembly and was previously the Leader of the Opposition in the Supreme National Assembly from 2007 to 2011. She was previously the Vice-Premier under the Jin Pai Nai from 2011 to his resignation in 2013. Li also the current Chairwomen the Kuancheng Group, a leading business and technology conglomerate in Manchuria.

Li was born in the city of Yingkou in the Fengtian province in 1957 whilst Manchuria was under the government of Xu Xiaobao, with her parents both being high ranking members of the ruling Communist Party of Manchuria. Through her parents connections she was able to attain a place in the University of Changchun and subsequently ascend through the ranks of the People's Naval Service. Following the overthrow of the communist govrnment Li left the navy for the Kuancheng Group which was created and run by her family. After the events of the Orchid Revolution, Li joined the National Liberal Party where she was appointed as deputy leader after she made an unsuccessful leadership bid losing to Xu Yu-cheng. In 2007 following the GZD's defeat in the legislative and premieral elections Li was elected leader of the GZD. Li as part of the branch of the party changed the direction of the party from a party mainly promising  policies into one much more focused on  and  doctrines.

The 2010 legislative elections saw Li lead a coalition of parties to win a majority in the National People's Assembly, where they oversaw large cuts to social welfare and what has been considered draconian austerity measures in measures taken ostensibly to simulate the economy following the. In 2011 she was appointed the Vice-Premier of Jin Pai Nai. In 2013 Jin resigned after a corruption scandal, causing Li to become inaugurated as Premier where she held a snap election, which she won with a comfortable majority.

Since becoming Premier Li has concentrated on keeping Manchuria's financial situation stable. Her administration has overseen the fall of inflation in relation to the currency of Manchuria, the Manchu Yuan, started to implement a system, and drastically decrease the power of labour unions. Manchuria has seen fast economic growth in response to these policies, but has also seen high levels of unemployment and inequality. Li's government has also been accused of, lack of , , , and creating an environment of "". Sine 2013 following the death of her father Li has been the Chairperson of the Kuancheng Group, with a net worth of 元20 billion (roughly a little over $2.5 billion).

Early life
Li Zhou was born on the 18th April 1957 in the town of Yingkou, located in the Fengtian Province in the Democratic People's Republic of Manchuria. Her father, Gao Yuzhang, was a member of the Communist Party of Manchuria and formally affiliated with the Manchu Democratic National Congress, which had led the short lived Second Manchu Republic. Yuzhang's position in the ZM allowed his wife Zihua and Zhou to live in an comfortable apartment in Yingkou.

In 1962 Li was enrolled in a local state run primary school. Three years later she joined the Communist Young Revolutionaries, the youth wing of the ZM. In 1968 Yuzhang was promoted to Minister of Technology and Research, and subsequently moved the family from Yingkou to the capital of Changchun. At the age of 18 Li was able to travel to the where she studied at the  for two years, studying Political Science. Rather then perform the usual mandatory two year military service Li instead enrolled into the naval division of the Xu Xiaobao Military Academy, the foremost military training school in Manchuria. She graduated from the school in 1982 with the rank of. During that time she also joined the ZM on the behest of her father who had been promoted to the ZM's politburo.

Military career
Upon graduating from military school Li was assigned to the newly created Azure-class Submarine, the first nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine created in Manchuria which was built in a joint Soviet-Manchu project. Li was assigned only a minor role on the submarine, as the Soviet navalmen took on the main roles of handling the missiles and the reactor.

In 1985 Li was promoted to, but was still assigned to the Azure. As a member of the ZM and due to her fathers high ranking position she was fast tracked through the ranks of the navy. In 1988 she was again promoted, this time to, where she served as second-in-command in the Manchu contingent on the Azure, although this role was in practice ceremonial as the Soviets continued to exert control over the Azure. In March 1989 the Azure project was fully transferred to the Manchu authorities. Following the fall of communism in Manchuria a few months later Li was discharged from the military.

Kuancheng Group
In early 1990 Li's father Yuzhang left the Communist Party buying up shares in several former state owned bushinesses as they were sold off by the new military junta. Her father concentrated on several media outlets including a branch of the old state broadcasting network and several newspapers.