Former PBOC deputy governor Liu Guiping to head Bank of China: sources

[BEIJING] China will appoint financial veteran Liu Guiping as chairman of Bank of China, the nation’s fourth largest state-owned bank, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.

Liu, who currently serves as executive vice-mayor of Tianjin city, will replace current chairman Ge Haijiao, who will move to become governor of China’s northern Shanxi province, said the sources, who declined to be named as they’re not authorised to speak to the media.

The appointments will be announced as soon as this week, the sources said.

The Tianjin municipal government, Shanxi provincial government, and Bank of China did not immediately reply to Reuters’ request for comment.

Liu, 59, has held several prominent positions in China’s financial sector, including deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China from November 2020 to April 2022 and president of state lender China Construction Bank from March 2019 to November 2020.

He was executive vice-president at sovereign investor China Investment Corp from 2014 to 2016.

Before that, Liu spent his career at major state lender Agricultural Bank of China for more than two decades.

Ge will succeed Jin Xiangjun, who was placed under investigation in April by China’s anti-graft organ on suspicion of serious violation of law and discipline, according to the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has cracked down on corruption involving party members, saying in January that it is the biggest threat to China’s Communist Party. REUTERS