FILE – People’s Bank of China Governor Yi Gang speaks during a news conference at the State Council Information Office in Beijing, March 3, 2023. and financial markets where there is continuity above as other economic officials change.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
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Mark Schiefelbein/AP
FILE – People’s Bank of China Governor Yi Gang speaks during a news conference at the State Council Information Office in Beijing, March 3, 2023. and financial markets where there is continuity above as other economic officials change.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
BEIJING – China reappointed Yi Gang as central bank chief on Sunday in a bid to reassure traders and financial markets that he would show continuity amid uncertainty in the world’s second-largest economy amid a shakeup of other economic officials.
Unlike his counterparts in other major economies, Yi, whose official title is Governor of the People’s Bank of China, has no role in making monetary policy. Its official functions consist of the “implementation of monetary policy” or the implementation of decisions made by a political body whose composition is secret.
But the central bank governor serves as the spokesman for monetary policy, is China’s most prominent figure in global finance, and is tasked with reassuring bankers and investors as China’s economy struggles. dramatically slow growth.
At the National People’s Congress on March 5, at the opening of the annual session of China’s parliament, China announced plans to revive the consumer-driven economy, setting a growth target of “around 5%” for this year.
Growth fell to 3% last year, the second-lowest level since at least the 1970s, putting special pressure on President and ruling Communist Party leader Xi Jinping to revive the economy.
A long-time veteran of monetary policy departments, Yi was first appointed as the governor of the People’s Bank of China in March 2018, replacing the highly respected Zhou Xiaochuan.
Before becoming governor, he worked for 20 years in the central bank after receiving his doctorate. He graduated from the University of Illinois and worked as a professor of economics at Indiana University from 1986 to 1994.
He is also the founder and professor of China Economic Research Center at Peking University.
The party made a similar decision to choose continuity in 2013, when Zhou, the incumbent PBOC governor, remained governor while all other economic regulators changed.
Yi’s reappointment came on the last day of the congress, which also saw Xi loyalists appointed as finance minister and head of the Cabinet Planning Agency to strengthen control over businesses, reduce borrowing risks and implement a program to promote state-run technological development. Incumbent Wang Wentao was reappointed as Minister of Commerce.
The Congress has also named four Deputy Prime Ministers who may be in the running for top posts. Among them is Ding Xuexiang, the sixth member of the Politburo Standing Committee, as vice premier in charge of administrative affairs. Former officials He Lifeng, Zhang Guoqing and Liu Guozhong were also appointed to this position. Liu and Zhang were the starters.
Foreign Minister Qing Gang was also appointed as a State Counselor, a position also held by Wang Yi, his predecessor and current head, Director of the Party Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission.
Defense Minister Li Shanfu, an aerospace engineer by training, was also one of the five State Council members, along with Wang Xiaohong, Minister of Public Security, and Wu Zhenglong, Chief Secretary of China’s Cabinet, known as the State Council. Shen Yiqing was the only woman appointed to this position and is the most prominent female politician in China.
Not a single woman sits on the 24-member Politburo or its standing committee, while the party’s more than 200-member central committee is 95 percent male.
Managing corporate and household debt, which Beijing believes has reached dangerous levels, will be a priority for finance officials. Tighter debt controls have caused a large-scale collapse of China’s real estate sector in 2021, adding to the downward pressure on the economy from the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the same time, the ruling party is trying to transfer funds to technology development and other strategic plans. This has prompted warnings that too much political control over emerging industries could waste money and stifle growth.
Xi has sometimes favored promoting officials whose predecessors lacked the experience and exposure to global industrial and financial markets. This reflects Xi Jinping’s efforts to rid the Chinese system of Western influence and promote domestic strategies.
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