Is China’s central bank boss Zhou Xiaochuan about to retire?
Long-serving governor of the People’s Bank of China was left off the list for a top panel, the strongest hint yet that he’s approaching retirement
Zhou Xiaochuan, the long-serving governor of the People’s Bank of China, was not included on a new list of the nation’s top political advisory body, the strongest signal yet he may be about to retire.
Zhou, who has served as vice-chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference since 2013, is not being re-selected as a member of its 13th national committee, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
The absence signals Zhou – who turns 70 on Monday – is likely to retire from the central bank before March, when the conference, a gathering of more than 2,000 people who advise on policymaking, usually holds its annual meeting.
It is “reasonable to infer” Zhou’s absence from the CPPCC national committee list signals he is approaching retirement, said Ding Shuang, chief economist for Greater China and North Asia at Standard Chartered in Hong Kong.
The personnel change “won’t influence policy orientation much – which isn’t determined by the PBOC itself, to some extent – although it does have flexibility in implementation”, he said.
