China names Pan Gongsheng to lead central bank, succeeding Yi Gang
China's ceremonial legislation has endorsed the promotion of Pan Gongsheng to serve as central bank governor
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
Pan Gongsheng was named China’s central bank governor Tuesday in the widely anticipated final major appointment of the ruling Communist Party’s once-a-decade change of power.
Pan, a deputy central bank governor and veteran of China’s state-owned banking industry, succeeds Yi Gang, an American-trained economist who held the post for five years. The endorsement of Pan's promotion by the ceremonial legislature, the National People’s Congress, follows other Cabinet-level appointments announced in March.
The governor of the People’s Bank of China is the most prominent Chinese figure in finance circles but the post's powers are limited. The bank is controlled by the ruling Communist Party.
Pan, who turns 60 this month, met July 8 with visiting U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, indicating he was being promoted. He was widely assumed to be in line for the job after he was named Communist Party secretary for the central bank.
In 2015, Pan was appointed head of China’s foreign exchange regulator, usually a stepping stone to the top central bank job. Earlier, he was a vice president of the Agricultural Bank of China Ltd., one of the country’s four major commercial lenders.
Pan earned a Ph.D. in economics from Renmin University in Beijing and did research at Cambridge and Harvard Universities.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.