Where is China's central bank chief? Doubts over yuan’s direction grow, but no-one's seen or heard from Zhou Xiaochuan
Under two prevailing theories, Zhou Xiaochuan’s silence is due either to changes in how China’s policies are decided, or his refusal to speak is part of the bank’s larger strategy to manage markets
If there’s one person who could explain Beijing’s yuan policy to a global audience it’s Zhou Xiaochuan, China’s central bank chief for the past 14 years.
But as investors across the world have been watching intently for any clues about Beijing’s intentions, Zhou has been strangely quiet for several months.
In August, China surprised markets when it devalued the renminbi by 2 per cent. He addressed the issue at a meeting of central bankers from the G20 bloc held in Ankara the following month, defending the move as a step towards giving the market a bigger say in the yuan exchange rate. But he has said little since, fuelling questions over where the currency is headed.
Many leading financial figures, including Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, and former US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, have publicly cited China’s poor communication as a source of unnecessary market turmoil, although they have not named Zhou specifically.
He was also absent from the World Economic Forum in Switzerland that wrapped up last week, even though China was a key topic.