China’s New Central Bank Chief Brings Harvard, Cambridge Connections Amid Strained Foreign Ties

China’s new central bank chief named today brings connections to Harvard University and Cambridge University to the job at a time of strains in the country’s international ties and worries about growth prospects for its economy — the world’s second largest.

Pan Gongsheng, whose career includes numerous posts in China’s state-dominated financial system, was once a senior research fellow at Harvard and did post-doctoral research at Cambridge, according to his official biography. It didn’t provide any dates.

Pan’s latest role was announced on the same day as a mysterious shake-up at China’s Foreign Ministry involving one of the country’s best-known diplomats. Former long-time foreign minister and current Communist Party foreign affairs chief Wang Yi has returned to lead the ministry, replacing Qin Gang, who has disappeared from public view for a month. No reason was given for the switch.

Qin, a long-time ministry official, was China’s ambassador to the U.S. and described as close to Chinese President Xi Jinping before becoming foreign minister last year. In a widely publicized visit to the country, Tesla billionaire Elon Musk met Qin in Beijing in May.

Pan, who recently also was named the Communist Party chief at the People’s Bank, became a deputy governor there in 2012. Earlier, he was an executive director of the Agricultural Bank of China and held various posts at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. Though not household names around the world, the two state-controlled banks made the top 10 of the 2023 Forbes Global 2000 list of the world’s top publicly traded companies unveiled last month. (See related post here.) Pan holds a PhD in economics from Renmin University of China. Outgoing People’s Bank Governor Yi Gang holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and taught in the economics department at Indiana University earlier in his career.

Pan is taking up the governor’s post amid clouds over China’s economic growth outlook and geopolitical tension that have hurt foreign investment and spurred the diversification of global supply chains away from the country. The days of multinational companies having 100% of overseas sourcing from China “are over,” former Morgan Stanley long-time Asia expert Stephen Roach told Forbes last month. (See interview here.)

“China is still a great opportunity for offshoring, and it still has a large market for multinationals, including U.S.-based multinationals, to tap,” said Roach, who for three decades was the Wall Street heavyweight’s chief economist and Asia chairman. “But you want to have your eggs in a number of baskets, not just in one.” The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China last month released its European Business in China Business Confidence Survey 2023 showing “a significant deterioration of business sentiment.”

China’s GDP grew 5.5% in the first half of 2023, though it was against a low year-earlier base when spending was hurt by the pandemic.

See related posts:

Forbes Global 2000: China’s Ranks Thin As Real Estate Woes Persist

Pentagon Faces Questions On Left, Right About Defense Imports

China’s “Fits And Starts” Economy Needs Private Sector Boost — Matthews Asia’s Andy Rothman

China’s Days As A Sole Overseas Source For U.S. Companies “Are Over” — Stephen Roach

@rflannerychina