New faces on the PBoC's monetary policy committee

In mid-June, central bank governor Yi Gang was named chairman of the 14-member policy panel. He replaces former PBoC governor, Zhou Xiaochuan, who retired in March. In addition to including the governor and two deputy governors of the PBoC, the committee comprises representatives from the government, the finance ministry, financial supervisory agencies, several other state agencies and China's banking association. The committee also includes three representatives from academia. The academics include Liu Shijin, deputy chairman of the government think tank China Development Research Foundation; Liu Wei, president of Renmin University; and Ma Jun, former PBoC chief economist and now a professor at Tsinghua University. The previous academic members were Fan Gang, Huang Yiping and Bai Chongen.

The PBoC's monetary policy committee meets every three months. It can offer recommendations, but has no real decision-making power over China's monetary policy directions. Even China's central bank lacks independence; all major monetary policy decisions have to be approved by the government.