The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has named Pan Gongsheng as vice-governor in China’s latest high-level appointment ahead of the once-in-a-decade top leadership reshuffle.
Pan was previously executive president of Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) and also had several different senior positions at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC). He is best known for his ability to engineer turnarounds at indebted and scandal-hit state-owned banks in preparation for listing, having won fame for his hands-on approach during the initial public offerings of ABC and ICBC — the two biggest IPOs in history.
In a country run by old men, Pan represents a younger and more reform-minded generation of leaders. At 49, he is the youngest of the vice-governors at PBoC, whose average age is 53.
China’s central bank has also named Wang Huaqin as the head of its disciplinary committee, according to PBoC’s website. Wang has been doing the same job at the China Banking Regulatory Commission since 2007.
The appointments of Pan and Wang are part of a big reshuffle in China’s leadership that started late last year; it is also part of China’s human-resource deployment to pave the way for further financial reform.
Pan was born in July 1963 and has a doctorate in economics from Beijing’s Renmin University. He has spent his whole career working at ICBC and then ABC. Pan will work under the PBoC’s governor Zhou Xiaochuan, 64, with the other three vice-governors. They are Hu Xiaolian, Liu Yushi and Yi Gang. Yi meanwhile holds the post of head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.
Last year, Xiang Junbo, chairman of ABC, moved to head the China Insurance Regulatory Commission in a major reshuffle, during which Guo Shuqing was appointed as head of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, replacing Shang Fulin, who was named head of the China Banking Regulatory Commission.
Beijing has planned to hold a five-yearly Communist Party congress by the end of this year, at which current top leaders will hand over their power to the next generation of leaders.
Pan was named as Capital Markets Person of the Year in 2011 by FinanceAsia.
