Chinese authorities will appoint a lawyer with deep U.S. experience as the Communist Party’s top representative to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to people familiar with the matter. The Communist Party is currently seeking to repair relations with the United States as well as gain a greater voice in the multilateral economic arena.
Li Bo, a veteran of the CCP’s central bank, will replace Zhang Tao as IMF vice president, sources familiar with the matter said. Li Bo currently serves as vice mayor of Chongqing. The latest appointment of Li Bo will likely be announced soon after this year’s National People’s Congress session.
In the four years under former U.S. President Donald Trump, U.S.-China relations have become increasingly tense. According to one of the sources, Li’s appointment may help the Communist Party further deepen its ties with Wall Street. Li Bo was previously with the New York law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP.
An IMF spokesman had no comment. A spokesman for the Chongqing municipal government did not return a request for comment.
Li Bo, 49, holds a law degree from Harvard Law School and a doctorate in economics from Stanford University. Zhou Xiaochuan recruited Li Bo to the central bank in 2004, after serving as its governor for nearly 16 years since December 2002. It is worth mentioning that Li Bo is also a member of the “50 People Forum on Mainland China Economy”. Current Vice Premier Liu He is the honorary head of the forum. According to reports, the Forum of 50 Mainland Chinese Economists, known as the “top think tank in mainland China’s economics community,” was launched by Liu He and others in 1998 and is positioned to focus on major domestic and international economic policy research.
In recent years, mainland China has increased its contributions to and interactions with organizations such as the IMF and the World Bank. But these deepening ties have drawn scrutiny from some U.S. officials. The Trump Administration previously nominated World Bank President David Malpass (David Malpass) has criticized mainland China’s foreign lending practices. Malpass questioned mainland China’s handling of the loans and urged greater transparency, particularly dissatisfied with confidentiality agreements in mainland China’s foreign loan contracts.
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