Wang Faces Inflation Test as New China Economic Chief
China brings in a ringer, Wang Qishan (王岐山), to solve it’s problems with rapidly rising prices. From Bloomberg:
Wang helped former Premier Zhu Rongji to tackle inflation that soared to as much as 27 percent in 1994. The task may be harder today because the economy is five times larger, more exposed by trade to a global slowdown, and less responsive to the levers pulled by state planners in Beijing.
“He has the experience to do the job and he’s done it before with Zhu,” said Andy Xie, an independent economist in Shanghai who was previously Morgan Stanley’s chief Asia economist in Hong Kong. “Wang is the best China has. If he can’t fix it, it is difficult to see anybody else who can.”
Wang last made political waves when he replaced Meng Xuenong as mayor of Beijing during the 2003 SARS crisis.
Origin: Kevin Hamlin, Bloomberg
