(Adds background, details)
BEIJING, Feb 23 (Reuters) - A career banker and head of
a state-run financial conglomerate, Zhu Hexin, is likely to
become governor of China's central bank after next month's
annual session of parliament, according to people familiar with
the matter.
The news was first reported on Thursday by the Wall Street
Journal, which also said He Lifeng, head of China's state
planning agency and a longtime confidant of President Xi
Jinping, is likely to become the central bank's Communist Party
chief.
He's party role would be in addition to his expected
appointment as vice premier in charge of the economy, the
Journal reported, a position he had been widely expected to take
over from Vice Premier Liu He, who is set to retire.
The People's Bank of China and the State Council Information
Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
If confirmed, the 54-year-old Zhu would replace Yi Gang, who
has been expected to retire during next month's leadership
reshuffle after he was dropped from an elite body of the ruling
Communist Party at its once-in-five years congress in October.
Unlike his predecessor, Yi does not hold the top party post
at the central bank, a role held by Guo Shuqing, China's top
banking regulator, who is also set to retire.
The looming retirements of Yi, Guo, Liu and Premier Li
Keqiang, which became clear at the October party congress, have
been perceived by leadership-watchers as heralding the end of a
generation of more reform-minded officials as Xi tightened his
grip on power.
Zhu is chairman of financial conglomerate Citic Group Corp and has previously held senior posts at state lenders
Bank of Communications and Bank of China. An engineering
graduate of the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics,
Zhu has also been a vice president in the central bank, and vice
governor of Sichuan province in southwestern China.
In addition to those changes, the Communist Party was also
planning to resurrect its Central Financial Work Commission, a
policy-setting body that operated between 1998 and 2003, the
Journal said, citing sources.
China's annual parliamentary session, set to begin on March
5, comes as policymakers are under pressure to revive an
economy, the world's second-largest, battered by three years of
heavy COVID-19 curbs.
(Reporting by Shivani Tanna in Bengaluru, Julie Zhu in Hong
Kong and Kevin Huang in Beijing; Writing by Tony Munroe; Editing
by Alex Richardson, Bernadette Baum and Tomasz Janowski)
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