Coronavirus: China’s financial stability body led by Liu He steps up meetings amid heightened financial risks
- Financial Stability and Development Committee, which oversees Chinese financial regulation, has been meeting intensively amid the economic fallout from Covid-19
- The agency, chaired by Vice-Premier Liu He, agreed this week on more flexible monetary policy and greater support for small firms
China’s top financial committee headed by Vice-Premier Liu He has held a series of intensive meetings behind closed doors in the past three months as the coronavirus pandemic has roiled global markets and brought the world’s second biggest economy into uncharted waters.
The Financial Stability and Development Commission, which Liu leads as top economic adviser to President Xi Jinping, held its 25th and most recent meeting on Tuesday, an official statement said this week. The committee last announced its 14th meeting in early January.
In other words, the commission, which includes China’s central bank governor Yi Gang, convened 10 meetings in-between at a frequency of nearly one a week. The commission does not publish its meeting agenda beforehand.
At a Politburo Standing Committee meeting on Wednesday, Xi said that “downside risks in the world economy have increased while instability and uncertainty have grown significantly”.