by BEIJING (AP) – China reappointed Yi Gang as central bank governor on Sunday in a bid to reassure entrepreneurs and financial markets by showing continuity at the helm while other economic officials rotate at a time of uncertainty in the world’s second-largest economy.
Yi, whose official title is governor of the People’s Bank of China, does not play a role in shaping monetary policy, unlike his peers in other major economies. Its official duties are to “implement monetary policy,” or carry out decisions made by a policy-making body, the membership of which is secret.
But the central bank governor serves as monetary policy spokesman, is the most prominent Chinese figure in global finance and is responsible for reassuring bankers and investors at a time when China’s economy is emerging from drastically slower growth.
Opening the annual session of China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress, on March 5, China announced plans for a consumer-led revival of the ailing economy, setting this year’s growth target at “around 5%.”
Growth last year fell to 3%, the second-lowest level since at least the 1970s, putting extraordinary pressure on President and ruling Communist Party leader Xi Jinping to revive the economy.
A longtime veteran in monetary policy departments, Yi was appointed governor of the People’s Bank of China for the first time in March 2018, succeeding the highly respected Zhou Xiaochuan.
Before becoming governor, Yi spent 20 years at the central bank after earning his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois and served as Professor of Economics at Indiana University from 1986 to 1994.
He is also a co-founder and professor at the China Center for Economic Research at Peking University.
The party made a similar decision to opt for continuity in 2013, when then-PBOC governor Zhou, who had been in office for a decade, stayed on as governor while all other economic regulators changed.
Yi’s reappointment came on the penultimate day of the congress, which also appointed Xi loyalists as finance minister and head of the cabinet’s planning authority to implement a program to tighten control over entrepreneurs, reduce debt risks and increase state-led technology development support financially. Incumbent Wang Wentao was reappointed as Minister of Commerce.
Congress also appointed four vice prime ministers, people who may be eligible for higher office. They include the sixth-ranking member of the party’s all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee, Ding Xuexiang, who is Vice Premier in charge of administrative affairs. Veteran bureaucrats He Lifeng, Zhang Guoqing and Liu Guozhong were also appointed to the post. Liu and Zhang were incumbents.
Foreign Minister Qin Gang was also appointed to the State Council, a position also held by Wang Yi, his predecessor and current superior as director of the party office of the Central Commission on Foreign Affairs.
Defense Minister Li Shangfu, an aerospace engineer by training, was appointed one of the five state councilors along with Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong and Secretary-General of China’s Cabinet, known as State Councilor, Wu Zhenglong. Shen Yiqin was the only woman appointed to the position and is China’s most senior politician.
There are no women on the 24-member Politburo or its standing committee, and the party’s more than 200-strong Central Committee is 95% male.
A priority for finance officials will be to manage corporate and household debt, which Beijing fears has risen to dangerous levels. Tighter debt controls triggered a slump in China’s massive real estate industry in 2021, compounding downward pressure on the economy from the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the same time, the ruling party is trying to reallocate money into technology development and other strategic plans. This has prompted warnings that too much political control over emerging industries could waste money and hamper growth.
Xi has preferred to promote officials who sometimes lack the experience of their predecessors and exposure to global industry and financial markets. This reflects Xi’s efforts to rid the Chinese system of Western influence and encourage domestic strategies.
___
AP writer Joe McDonald contributed to this report.
