[News Figures] Pang Gungseong, New Party Secretary of the People's Bank of China

Foreign Exchange Expert Formerly Deputy Governor of the People's Bank of China
Studied Abroad at Cambridge University and Harvard University

Pan Gongseng (潘功勝, 60), Deputy Governor of the People's Bank of China and Director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, has been appointed as the Secretary of the Communist Party Committee of the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank. The newly appointed Party Secretary Pan Gongseng is regarded as a leading foreign exchange expert.

On the 1st (local time), Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (SCMP) and other media reported that the People's Bank of China appointed Deputy Governor Pan as the Party Committee Secretary, succeeding Deputy Governor Guo Shuqing, at the top executive meeting held that day.

Pangu Cheng, the new Party Secretary of the People's Bank of China
Photo by Yonhap News

Born in 1963 in Anhui Province, the new Party Secretary Pan Gongseng holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Renmin University of China and served as a postdoctoral researcher in Economics at the University of Cambridge in the UK. He also studied at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, among other overseas academic experiences.

He has published papers such as "Investor Relations Management of Listed Companies," "Market Capitalization Analysis of Listed Banks," and "The Leap of Large Banks - The Revival Path of China's Large Banks." China Business Journal described him as a "typical scholar-type bureaucrat."

Pan also accumulated extensive financial experience at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and the Agricultural Bank of China. He was appointed Deputy Governor of the People's Bank of China in June 2012 and concurrently served as Director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange from the end of 2015. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Pan's rich international experience was the background for his selection as the top leader of the People's Bank of China.

Chinese media Caixin analyzed that Pan Gongseng's rise is a strategic move to reassure the market, given his comprehensive experience in major state-owned banks and the People's Bank of China, as well as his extensive overseas study background. Caixin noted that Pan is "known for speaking sparingly and having meticulous organizational management," and as Deputy Governor of the People's Bank of China, he demonstrated solid performance in financial tasks such as efforts to prevent real estate speculation and related regulatory work.