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Reuters

China’s vice-premier Liu He, known for his tough stance on credit-driven stimulus, told a new team of regulators that the prevention of risks in the country’s financial sector is their top priority.
Liu said China also needs to deepen financial reforms and further open up the sector, with market forces providing the cue, according to a report published by the official Xinhua news agency on Tuesday.
“To win the battle against financial risks is a priority of the country’s current financial work,” said Liu, who is also a trusted confidant of President Xi Jinping.
China is among global economies viewed as most vulnerable to a banking crisis, according to the Bank for International Settlements. Beijing has maintained that debt risks are under control, and its commitment to deleveraging will not waver.
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But those promises have been met with scepticism, with critics saying China might fall back on the old playbook of credit-fuelled investment when growth slows.
Still, Liu is known to be a critic of credit-derived stimulus, widely seen as being behind the voice of an unnamed “authoritative person” who wrote in Peop le’s Daily, the party’s mouthpiece, in May 2016 warning about risks from the country’s debt-driven growth model.
“Liu is a critic of the debt-fuelled programme that China adopted following the [global] financial crisis, or at least feels that it has continued for too long and that government stimulus cannot be the main driver of growth,” said Tony Saich, an expert in Chinese politics at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
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Liu, on what Xinhua described as an inspection trip, told the central bank and financial regulators that effort should be spent on supporting the real economy while keeping monetary policy prudent and neutral and ensuring reasonable and stable liquidity in the financial system.
His visit followed the recent appointment of a new People’s Bank of China governor and the head of a merged banking and insurance watchdog.
The move to tighten oversight of China’s US$42 trillion banking and insurance sectors comes as Beijing reins in riskier lending practices and cuts high corporate debt.
China has also cracked down on the country’s conglomerates for their aggressive acquisitions of overseas assets.
It has additionally launched a campaign to root out officials engaged in corrupt practices in the financial sector.
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Xiang Junbo, former chairman of the insurance watchdog, last April became the highest-ranking finance industry official to be investigated for corruption.
“China will also provide a strong political foundation for its financial work by upholding its anti-corruption campaign,” Liu said.
Liu, since his elevation into China’s 25-member Politburo, the second-highest tier in Beijing’s political power structure, has emerged as an assertive voice in the government on not just the economy and finance, but also trade.
Liu is involved in China’s trade dialogue with the United States, and last week spoke with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin as trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economies flared anew.


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Liu He

Chinese vice-premier Liu He tells regulators to make crackdown on financial risk their priority

Chinese vice-premier Liu He tells regulators to make crackdown on financial risk their priority

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}President Xi Jinping’s close confidant says further reforms are also needed

President Xi Jinping’s close confidant says further reforms are also needed