HONG KONG—Chinese leader Xi Jinping is considering putting a confidant he has known for decades in charge of the country’s economic and financial systems, an appointment that would ensure his control over an ambitious effort to remold the world’s second-largest economy.
He Lifeng, the top official at China’s state economic-planning agency, is the leading candidate for a promotion to vice premier with broad responsibilities over economic, financial and industrial affairs, according to people familiar with the discussions. If appointed, his close ties with Mr. Xi, which date to the 1980s when they were municipal officials in the same city, would likely give Mr. He broad influence over policy.