Explainer | Who is Chinese economist Yi Gang, the US-educated governor of the People’s Bank of China?
- Since 2018, central bank governor Yi Gang has led financial reforms and debt reduction, while maintaining a prudent monetary stance
- Educated in the US, Yi has also been responsible for raising China’s profile on the global stage and continuing its opening to the world
As a foreign-educated economist who once had tenure as a distinguished professor at a US university, Yi Gang cuts a distinct figure among China’s army of beige bureaucrats.
And he has unexpectedly secured a second five-year term as head of the central bank, extending his leadership role despite having reached retirement age this year. This gives him the chance to serve longer than usual, and it is particularly eye-catching given that the country has ushered in a mostly new administration under President Xi Jinping.
Yi, the 65-year-old governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), is considered in Beijing to be a straight-talking, pro-market reformer with a scholarly air. Respected for his knowledge of monetary economics, he is also well known for his low-key and balanced work style.
Though he has a comparatively low rank in China’s political hierarchy, Yi has a long working relationship with former vice-premier Liu He, who was once the president’s closest economic adviser, dating back to the late 1990s.
Fluent in English, Yi gained his PhD in economics in the United States and taught the same subject as an associate professor at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis – an institution he has called his “second home” and at which he worked for about eight years before returning to China in 1994.
