BEIJING — China kept its current central bank governor and finance minister in a surprise move at the country’s annual parliament Sunday, with a slate of trusted lieutenants installed for President Xi Jinping’s third term.
The National People’s Congress saw People’s Bank of China Gov. Yi Gang nominated to retain his post. That defied expectations that Zhu Hexin, head of state-owned Citic Group, would take over from Yi, who has been leading the central bank since 2018.
Pundits had expected Yi to step aside after he was dropped from the Communist Party’s top decision-making body during a key political meeting in October.
Liu Kun was tapped to stay on as finance minister.
Among the other appointments at China’s rubber-stamp parliament was the endorsement of Ding Xuexiang as second-in-command at the State Council, the country’s cabinet.
Ding will join newly minted Premier Li Qiang in carrying out Xi’s priority for confidants to execute a reform agenda.
As director of the party’s General Office, Ding is currently serving Xi as a chief of staff. He is also ranked sixth in the powerful Communist Party Politburo Standing Committee.
He Lifeng, another close Xi ally who leads central planning agency the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), was also made one of the three vice premiers.
He will likely be entrusted with the financial and economic portfolio, a position previously held by Liu He, known as the top negotiator with the U.S. over trade sanctions.
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