BEIJING ¨C China filled out Premier Li Keqiang¡¯s economic team over the weekend, installing sovereign-wealth fund chief Lou Jiwei as finance minister while retaining Zhou Xiaochuan as central bank governor.
Gao Hucheng, 61, will be commerce minister after the National People¡¯s Congress approved his appointment in a vote in Beijing on Saturday. Xu Shaoshi, 61, will head the National Development and Reform Commission, the economic planning agency.
The leadership lineup under Li, who was to hold a press briefing Sunday in Beijing, is a mix of ¡°activist reformers¡± such as Zhou and Lou and more cautious officials like Zhang Gaoli, appointed as the most senior vice premier, according to Yukon Huang, a former World Bank country head for China. At stake is the speed of policy moves to deepen a shift toward free markets and limit a slide in growth, as Nomura Holdings Inc. warns of mounting risks of a financial crisis.
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