On July 1, 2023, Pan Gongsheng took office as Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the People’s Bank of China.
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BEIJING — The People’s Bank of China announced on Saturday that Pan Gongsheng, head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange of China, will be the party secretary of the central bank.
In countries ruled by the Chinese Communist Party, the party secretary of an agency usually wields the most power.
Pan’s appointment to the post comes as leadership changes continue in Beijing. The party’s twice-a-decade congress in October and the annual National People’s Congress in March provide President Xi Jinping with an unprecedented third term in office.
Guo Shuqing, the former party secretary of the People’s Bank of China, serves as the director of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.
The agency was merged into the National Financial Supervisory Authority in financial regulatory reforms announced in March, which will take effect this year. The government party secretary and director is Li Yunze, a rare ministerial appointee among the younger generation in the 1970s.
Yi Gang, governor of the People’s Bank of China, was removed from his position as deputy party secretary, according to an announcement on Saturday. The central bank did not say whether Yi Gang would also resign as governor.
Pan’s appointment comes at a time when China’s economic growth has slowed and the yuan has weakened against the dollar. In June the central bank cut its key interest rate for the first time in months.
At the same time, Beijing has stepped up efforts to tackle financial risks. The Chinese government’s annual work report this year devoted a whole chapter to preventing and defusing major risks, especially real estate and local government debt risks.
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