Elite Chinese Politics and Political Economy

Well, in one of the most erroneous predictions in this blog's history, the State Council just announced that Fan Gang would serve as Yu's replacement on the Monetary Policy Committee. Wow, it's so obvious in retrospect, as he is well regarded. But this means that the authorities got a bit tired of Yu's flamboyance and wanted someone much more circumspect on the committee. Also, Fan is known as a supporter of the status quo in exchange rate policy, so this probably signals the continuation of creeping revaluation.


China: Fan Gang To Join PBOC Monetary Policy Committee

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BEIJING (Dow Jones)--China's Cabinet said Friday it had appointed economist Fan Gang to the People's Bank of China's monetary policy committee, an advisory body to the central bank.

The move is unlikely to affect the direction of the country's monetary or foreign exchange policy.

Fan Gang replaces Yu Yongding as the academic member on the 13-member monetary policy committee. Yu's term expired in July.

The advisory body is headed by PBOC Governor Zhou Xiaochuan.

Fan, 52, is a professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a government-backed think tank, and Peking University. He is also a director of the National Economic Research Institute.

At a CASS conference in July, Fan said China could allow the yuan to appreciate 3%-4% a year to help correct global imbalances. He said at the time the yuan shouldn't appreciate too much and favored a managed float rather than free float of the currency.

Fan has done research in the U.S. as a visiting fellow at Harvard University and the National Bureau of Economic Research between 1985 and 1987. He is a fluent English speaker.

The PBOC monetary policy committee is composed of representatives of key government departments, including the Ministry of Finance, State Administration of Foreign Exchange, and the country's banking, securities, and insurance regulatory agencies. There is one academic seat on the committee.

Yu is director of the Institute of World Economics & Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

¶ -By Rick Carew, Dow Jones Newswires; 8610 6588-5848; rick.carew@dowjones.com