Politics

China appoints key economic and defense officials

The appointments will impact China's economic reform efforts and its drive to modernize its armed forces. The National People's Congress also confirmed appointments to the posts of finance, commerce and foreign minister.

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Yi Gang speaks at a news conference on March 10, 2017 — Yi Gang has been appointed China's new central bank chiefImage: Reuters/J. Lee

China's ceremonial legislature on Monday approved new appointments to the posts of vice premier, defense minister and governor of the country's central bank.

The confirmations, which follow President Xi Jinping's reappointment on Saturday, set the tone for Beijing's plans to reform its economy and modernize its military in Xi's second term.

Liu He is a close confidant of President Xi JinpingImage: picture-alliance/dpa/G.Ehrenzeller

The newly-filled positions:

Liu He, Xi's economic adviser, was elected to take over one of China's four vice premier posts, where he is expected to oversee Xi's economic reform efforts.
Yi Gang, a deputy of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), was elected to take over as the bank's governor. Yi, who received his PhD in the United States, replaces veteran Governor Zhou Xiaochuan.
Liu Kun, head of the parliament's budget office, was elected to replace Xiao Jie as finance minister.
He Lifeng was re-elected as head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's economic planning agency.
Zhong Shan was re-elected as commerce minister.
Lt. Gen. Wei Fenghe was elected as defense minister.
Wang Yi was re-elected as foreign minister.

Why the economic appointments matter: Xi's government faces a rising national debt pile, trade tensions with the US and the EU, and slower economic growth. Beijing has vowed to get its debt under control to mitigate financial risks to the Chinese economy. Liu is expected to be at the forefront of those efforts.

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Modernizing the military: Wei is set to oversee China's military modernization and be the face of the armed forces in meetings with foreign counterparts. Xi nevertheless outranks Wei as chairman of the Central Military Commission.

More of the same: Yi's appointment as head of the central bank appears to be a vote for continuity in PBOC policies under Zhou, his predecessor and mentor. His powers, however, are relatively limited. The PBOC, in contrast to central banks in other countries, carries out monetary policy set by another state agency, the identity of whose members is secret.