<\/p>\n
The two-day Central Financial Work Conference \u2014 a key closed-door financial policy meeting that takes place only once every five years \u2014 concluded yesterday in Beijing, and was chaired by X\u00ed J\u00ecnp\u00edng \u4e60\u8fd1\u5e73.<\/p>\n
The first such conference took place in 1997 amid the Asian Financial Crisis to undertake financial reform and promote stability. The most recent conference took place in 2017, which was the first time the event was overseen directly by Xi himself. This week\u2019s conference was delayed by a year due to China\u2019s COVID-zero restrictions, and was the first big economy-focused gathering since Beijing unveiled a series of ministerial reforms in March 2023, including the establishment of a State Financial Regulatory Commission.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s conference was also rebranded: It was previously called the National Financial Work Conference (\u5168\u56fd\u91d1\u878d\u5de5\u4f5c\u4f1a\u8bae), but this year, it\u2019s the Central Financial Work Conference (\u4e2d\u592e\u91d1\u878d\u5de5\u4f5c\u4f1a\u8bae), possibly to indicate that Xi himself \u2014 the \u201ccore\u201d (\u6838\u5fc3) \u2014 is in charge.<\/p>\n
Last week, Xi visited<\/a> the People\u2019s Bank of China, China\u2019s central bank, in a rare step that underlined the Party\u2019s consolidation of control of markets and financial institutions.<\/p>\n Ahead of the conference, Bloomberg reported<\/a> that key government officials, regulators, and bankers would be meeting to discuss measures to resolve financial risks, notably the ongoing property crisis and local government debt. The key challenge for Beijing is to engineer balanced growth while managing the risks of local government debt and the unstable real estate market.<\/p>\n The official report<\/a> on the conference published in the Communist Party newspaper, the People\u2019s Daily, clearly signaled tighter Party control of China\u2019s $61 trillion financial sector. The report states that \u201cfinance is the blood of the national economy and an important part of the country\u2019s core competitiveness,\u201d and emphasizes the imperative of strengthening financial regulation and guarding against and defusing risks.<\/p>\n The report repeatedly underlines the importance of the leadership of the Party\u2019s Central Committee over financial work. Acknowledging the problems currently facing the financial sector, the report mentions \u201cmany hidden dangers in economic and financial risks\u201d and weak financial regulatory capabilities, and outlines a number of specific \u201crisk prevention and control\u201d measures, including:<\/p>\n The overall objective is to \u201cbring all financial activities under government supervision,\u201d and for the Party-state to \u201celiminate supervision gaps and blind spots, strictly enforce the law, dare to brandish the sword (\u6562\u4e8e\u4eae]\u5251 g\u01ceny\u00fa li\u00e0ngji\u00e0n), and severely crack down on illegal financial activities.\u201d<\/p>\n Vice-premier H\u00e9 L\u00ecf\u0113ng \u4f55\u7acb\u5cf0 delivered the concluding speech at the meeting. He is considered China\u2019s \u201ceconomic tsar\u201d and has just been appointed director of a key Party economic body, the Central Finance and Economic Affairs Commission.<\/p>\n\u201cDare to brandish the sword\u201d<\/h3>\n
\n
Who is He?<\/h3>\n