China Splits Top Jobs at Central Bank, Adding Another Reformer
- 6 years ago
China Splits Top Jobs at Central Bank, Adding Another Reformer
By KEITH BRADSHERMARCH 25, 2018
BEIJING — Less than a week after naming Yi Gang as the governor of China’s central bank, leaders in Beijing have unexpectedly put a different
man above him as the Communist Party secretary at the central bank, five people familiar with the decision said on Sunday.
Jan Svejnar, the director of the Center on Global Economic Governance at Columbia University, said
that China’s rapid shake-up in top financial regulatory jobs indicated that the country’s leaders were determined to act on weaknesses in the financial system.
In that analogy, Mr. Guo will essentially become the chairman of China’s central bank while Mr. Yi, as governor, will act like a chief executive.
While Mr. Guo and Mr. Yi both have reputations as avid financial reformers who want to address China’s
addiction to debt-fueled economic growth, Mr. Guo has much better political connections.
By adding the role of party secretary of the central bank, Mr. Guo emerges with even broader responsibilities over the country’s financial system.
Mr. Guo has already run the China Banking Regulatory Commission for the past year,
and a week ago, the National People’s Congress voted to fold the country’s insurance regulatory agency into the commission.
Chinese officials have publicly acknowledged that they need to address rising leverage but contend
that the country’s minimal foreign debt, strong economic growth and increasingly stringent financial regulation mean that they have ample time to defuse the problem without a sharp slowdown in economic growth.
By KEITH BRADSHERMARCH 25, 2018
BEIJING — Less than a week after naming Yi Gang as the governor of China’s central bank, leaders in Beijing have unexpectedly put a different
man above him as the Communist Party secretary at the central bank, five people familiar with the decision said on Sunday.
Jan Svejnar, the director of the Center on Global Economic Governance at Columbia University, said
that China’s rapid shake-up in top financial regulatory jobs indicated that the country’s leaders were determined to act on weaknesses in the financial system.
In that analogy, Mr. Guo will essentially become the chairman of China’s central bank while Mr. Yi, as governor, will act like a chief executive.
While Mr. Guo and Mr. Yi both have reputations as avid financial reformers who want to address China’s
addiction to debt-fueled economic growth, Mr. Guo has much better political connections.
By adding the role of party secretary of the central bank, Mr. Guo emerges with even broader responsibilities over the country’s financial system.
Mr. Guo has already run the China Banking Regulatory Commission for the past year,
and a week ago, the National People’s Congress voted to fold the country’s insurance regulatory agency into the commission.
Chinese officials have publicly acknowledged that they need to address rising leverage but contend
that the country’s minimal foreign debt, strong economic growth and increasingly stringent financial regulation mean that they have ample time to defuse the problem without a sharp slowdown in economic growth.