The first minister of the central government born in the 1970s
Li Wenze, a 25-year financial veteran at state-owned banks
It seems to take on the task of resolving the debt of the 3rd largest local government
China has appointed Li Wenze (53), Vice Governor of Sichuan Province, as the first head of the State Administration of Financial Supervision (Financial Administration). It is evaluated that the generational shift in China’s leadership has begun in earnest as ‘Qilinghou’, which refers to people born in the 1970s, has advanced to key positions in the central government for the first time.
According to Reuters on the 10th, Party Secretary Li, who was appointed as the first party secretary of the State Financial Supervision Administration (FSS), a financial regulatory body, is expected to actively resolve local government debt. At a meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China chaired by Chinese President Xi Jinping in April, curbing the risk of local government debt was a priority. Goldman Sachs estimated that China’s local government debt reached 23 trillion dollars, or 126 percent of China’s gross domestic product.
Bloomberg News said, “The experience that Li has accumulated through local governments and the financial sector will help solve the local government debt risk, which is a long-standing problem in China.” Party Secretary Li was born in Shandong Province in 1970. After graduating from Tianjin University, he worked at China Construction Bank (1993-2017) and Industrial and Commercial Bank (2017-2018). After working for a total of 25 years at the two state-owned banks, Li was appointed Vice Governor of Sichuan Province in 2018. Reuters reported that “persons with rich international experience have held key positions in the Chinese government, but the trend continues to be replaced by domestic officials.”
The Financial Supervisory Service is a financial regulator newly established in March in the process of a large-scale government reorganization in the wake of President Xi’s third term in office. It oversees China’s financial sector, which is estimated at 400 trillion yuan (about 7.6 trillion won). As an agency under the direct control of the State Council, it replaces the existing financial regulator, the Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission. The Financial Supervisory Administration will also take over the supervision and management of financial groups and financial consumer protection from the People’s Bank of China.
Those born in the 1970s entered the leadership en masse starting with the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (Party Congress) held last year. Most of them are experts in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) or economics and finance who have graduated from prestigious universities and have doctorates. Contrast this with leaders born in the 1960s who did not have formal college education. Qilinghou’s rapid progress is analyzed as a result of President Xi’s desire to realize China’s technological self-reliance amidst the US-China conflict spreading to the technology sector.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.