Liberal market reformer set to be named as China’s next central bank governor
Appointment of banking regulator to key role would boost confidence that the shrinking reform camp will still be able to influence policy
China is likely to name Guo Shuqing, a key figure in China’s market reform camp as the next central bank governor, two independent sources have told the South China Morning Post.
Guo, the current chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, is currently ahead of the other candidates for the post – including Jiang Chaoliang, the Hubei party secretary; Yi Gang, a deputy governor at the People’s Bank of China and Liu Shiyu, the chairman of China Securities Regulatory Commission – said one source, who declined to be named.
If the appointment of Guo, 61, who holds similar liberal views to the retiring governor Zhou Xiaochuan, is confirmed in the coming weeks, it will ensure the presence of a well-known market believer in President Xi Jinping’s economic team – a development that could help to shore up confidence that Xi is not totally sidelining market liberalisation.
“Xi once told Guo at an internal meeting that ‘China’s financial reform is upon you’,” a second source said. However, the source added that he was not present at the meeting but he had heard about it from someone who was there.
However, like other Chinese personnel reshuffles, the dust will not settle until the last minute. There have been multiple reports about Zhou’s retirement in previous years that have proved wrong.
At a delegation meeting on Thursday, Zhou, who has been China’s central bank governor since late 2002, declined to give any clues of his successor. When asked who would replace him, he replied, “Who do you think?”
