Is this China’s next economic tsar? Central bank visit by He Lifeng ramps up public profile

Signs are increasingly suggesting that the current chairman of China’s top economic planner will be named vice-premier next month

Beijing again puts He Lifeng alongside senior cadres during high-profile stop at the People’s Bank of China, leading to increased speculation about economic policy changes

Reading Time:3 minutes

He Lifeng (pictured on left), is seen seated alongside Premier Li Keqiang at a symposium on Monday. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 8:30pm, 1 Feb 2023

A high-profile appearance by senior financial cadres and He Lifeng, the head of China’s top economic planner, has reinforced market beliefs that he is poised to succeed Vice-Premier Liu He and help oversee the world’s second-largest capital market.

Expectations are rife that He Lifeng will be appointed vice-premier during Beijing’s annual parliamentary meetings in March. This has raised speculations about whether the move would usher in major policy changes, as he has not publicly commented on his concerns or priorities in managing securities, banking and foreign exchange markets, nor how he might address the ongoing property downturn and local government debt crisis.

The chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission accompanied Premier Li Keqiang during a visit to the People’s Bank of China on Monday.

The 68-year-old was seen standing and later sitting next to the outgoing premier during an inspection of the Investment Centre of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, and he was heard being briefed by senior officials from the central bank, and from banking, insurance and securities regulators, in footage released by state broadcaster CCTV on Tuesday.

He had earlier met with senior cadres when representing the financial sector while attending the 20th party congress in October, when he was elevated as one of the 24-member Politburo headed by President Xi Jinping. Politburo members decide and implement the party’s political, economic and social agenda.

A vast majority of the current regulatory officials have been removed from the elite Communist Party Central Committee, suggesting a large financial personnel reshuffle is ahead. One exception was Yi Huiman, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission and former head of the nation’s biggest state-owned bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, who also attended Monday’s meeting at the central bank.