Showing posts with label Xiao Gang. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Xiao Gang. Show all posts

Monday, February 22, 2016

Shake-up at financial regulator does not mean change - Victor Shih

Victor Shih
Victor Shih
 The surprise dismissal of China´s financial regulator Xiao Gang does not mean that its policies and approach are really going to change, says political analyst Victor Shih in the New York Times. His successor Liu Shiyu is certainly no bold reformer, says professor Shih.

The New York Times:
The shake-up also does little to solve the underlying problem: a government increasingly under the control of one man, President Xi, who is trying to subdue economic turbulence. It is this penchant for control, investors and analysts say, that is driving talent away from the technocratic bureaucracy and rewarding officials who fall in line.
“That’s the problem of a very top-down policy style that’s emerging in China now,” said Victor Shih, a professor at the University of California, San Diego, who studies the confluence of finance and politics in China. “No one dares to challenge whatever preconceived notion the top leadership has.”... 
While Mr. Liu has little experience with markets, he does have connections. In the mid-1990s, he worked the state-owned China Construction Bank. The bank, at the time, was headed by Wang Qishan, who is now overseeing the anticorruption campaign as one of seven members of the Communist Party’s ruling Politburo Standing Committee. 
“He’s definitely not a bold reformer,” Mr. Shih said of Mr. Liu. 
The new securities chief may be in an impossible position, expected to control inherently uncontrollable markets and take the blame if the efforts fail. The push by Mr. Xi’s to assert state control over the markets and the economy go against the philosophy of China’s early reformers under Deng Xiaoping, the paramount leader who sought to give more space to the market.
More in the New York Times. 

Victor Shih is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´request form.

Are you looking for more political analysts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.  

Friday, November 16, 2012

Old hands take over finance regulators - Wei Gu

Wei Gu
While the world was watching new party leader Xi Jinping taking the stage, real changes are taking place at the lower tiers. Reuters' Breakingviews columnist Wei Gu describes how the old guard is taking over positions at the financial regulators. Experience wins from reform.

Wei Gu:
The most high-profile change is at the People’s Bank of China where Zhou Xiaochuan, governor for the past decade, is now expected to retire. That’s prompted speculation about his replacement. Xiao Gang, chairman of Bank of China, who was promoted to the 205-member central committee, should advance. A former deputy governor, who is also young enough to serve a full ten-year term, Xiao may have a chance of succeeding Zhou. But the heads of China’s banking and securities regulators, who are more senior, could also get the nod. 
Other candidates for promotion include Lou Jiwei, chairman of China’s sovereign wealth fund, who could become finance minister. A former deputy finance minister, Lou’s international experience should come in handy as China becomes increasingly integrated into the global financial system. 
Picking a new central banker in China is not as momentous as, say, selecting a new chief for the U.S. Federal Reserve. Monetary policy is still  believed to be set behind the scenes by the country’s premier or its State Council. Running the central bank may be more about following the party line, as Zhou showed last month when he cancelled a high-profile speech in Japan following a territorial dispute. Moreover, the likely new heads aren’t much different from the ones they are replacing. Most of them, including Lou and Xiao, earned their promotions in the era of former premier Zhu Rongji
Still, personality matters in China’s hierarchy-driven society. Under Zhou, the PBOC has developed a more open culture with lively debates. Although it may not have the final say on interest rates, it can lead key initiatives, such as yuan internationalisation, which helped to loosen the country’s rigid control on the exchange rate. China’s new financial guard won’t automatically lead to faster reforms. But at least they have plenty of experience in pushing for changes from within.
More at Reuters' Breakingviews.

Wei Gu is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

The China Weekly Hangout on November 1 focused on what we can expect for the Xi Jinping tenure, discussed by Janet Carmosky, Greg Anderson and Fons Tuinstra.
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