Chinese authorities replace curator of monetary policy

China has named banking veteran Zhu Hexin as the Communist Party chief at the nation’s foreign exchange regulator, paving the way for him to lead the agency that oversees the country’s $3 trillion foreign reserves, Report informs referring to Bloomberg.

Zhu has become the party secretary of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange to succeed current central bank governor Pan Gongsheng, according to a statement published by SAFE. The party leader role is seen as more powerful than the administrative head of an institution.

Zhu spent more than 20 years working in the banking sector before taking public office. He was vice governor of Sichuan province and then a deputy governor of the nation’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China, before taking over in 2020 as chairman of Citic Group Corp., a financial conglomerate overseen by the State Council, China’s cabinet.

The appointment is one of the last remaining changes to China’s economic leadership that has been undergoing an overhaul since the party congress a year ago. Zhu was most recently seen as a contender to be governor of the People’s Bank of China, before Pan — who was head of SAFE from 2016 — filled the position in July to replace Yi Gang, who reached retirement age.

SAFE is in charge of China’s foreign currency reserves, which stood at $3.1 trillion in October. It also plays a role in managing the exchange rate market. That has been a challenge this year as the yuan weakened against the dollar amid a widening rate gap between the US and China.

The yuan has been gaining strength recently, though, supported by bets that the dollar has peaked and a potential turnaround in the Chinese economy.