Vice-Premier Liu He set to lead China’s new economic team as government line-up finalised
Like new central bank chief Yi Gang, Liu’s overseas experience expected to stand him in good stead for challenges ahead
Harvard-educated economist Liu He is set to play a pivotal role in the management of China’s US$12 trillion economy – alongside newly appointed central bank governor Yi Gang – after being named on Monday as one the country’s four vice-premiers.
While the division of duties among the four deputies to Premier Li Keqiang has yet to be announced, 66-year-old Liu is the hot favourite to lead on economic and financial affairs, which would include the handling of trade issues with the United States.
Besides already being an economic adviser to President Xi Jinping, Liu is the only vice-premier to have had an overseas education – he was a visiting scholar at Seton Hall University in New Jersey in the US in the early 1990s and completed a master’s degree in international finance and trade at Harvard University’s John F Kennedy School of Government.
As China seeks to boost its profile on the world stage, officials with overseas experience are regarded as valuable assets, as was showed when Liu was sent to Washington recently to help ease trade tensions between the two economic giants.
The People’s Bank of China’s new chief Yi has a similar profile to Liu, and the two men are expected to work ever more closely together in the years ahead. They are already linked through the Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs, which is headed by Liu, with Yi as one of his assistants.
