First came a cartoon character of President Xi. Now it's that of Premier Li.  

Where caricatures of China's top leaders used to be taboo, now they're being officially released and circulated, an indication that the Chinese government may be slowly shedding off its stern, authoritative image to give way to a more open, animated image that the younger generation can cotton to.

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On Wednesday night, the government published on its website (gov.cn) a group of illustrated graphics explaining the Executive Meeting of the State Council that was held that day.  

It showed a smiling, bespectacled Premier Li Kequiang in a dark blue suit pointing at a banner text, quite similar to how he looks on television. The illustrations were jointly produced by the state website and the Xinhua Multimedia Center.

A week earlier, on February 19, another government-affiliated website (Qianlong.com) carried a cartoon image of President Xi with an article titled "Where has my time gone?" The quote was from an interview of Xi by Russian TV during the Sochi Olympics.  It instantly drew positive reaction from social media.

Professor Lijia Zu of the National School of Administration says that these caricatures tend to break the mystique surrounding state leaders and make them seem more approachable, contrary to earlier belief that caricaturing state leaders would diminish their authority.