Wu Kaiping

    

His Excellency Wu Kaiping
無開平
21st Premier of the Republic of China
In office 20 May 2012 – 26 May 2016
President	Ren Longyun
Preceded by	Han Zhanshu
Succeeded by	Zhao Meijin
Minister of Finance
In office 8 August 2010 – 20 May 2012
Succeeded by	Yang Sen
Governor of the Central Bank of the Republic of China
In office 10 September 1999 – 8 August 2010
Preceded by	Qin Junyi
Personal details
Born	(1954-12-25) December 25, 1954 Shanghai, People's Republic of China
Political party	Nationalist (2000–present)
Other political affiliations	Communist (1971–2000)
Children	2
Education	Central University of Finance and Economics Tsinghua University
Profession	Central banker Economist

Wu Kaiping (born 25 December 1954) is a Chinese banker, economist, and politician who was the Premier of the Republic of China from 2012 to 2016. Before that he had been the Governor of the Central Bank of the Republic of China from 1999 until 2010, the longest serving central bank head in its history, and then Minister of Finance from 2010 to 2012, steering the monetary policy of an economy amid structural transformation. He assisted President Ren Longyun in implementing his economic policies and reforms during the early part of his presidency. Wu Kaiping held the distinction of "Best Central Banker in the world" for several years (2000–2005, 2008–2010) per Global Finance magazine.

During his tenure as the Governor of the Central Bank, China became the largest economy in the world and a major player in global financial markets. As a result Wu is considered to be one of the most influential Chinese policymakers of his generation and was one of the leading economic advisors in the Ren Longyun administration. This was one of the main reasons for his appointment as Chinese Premier in 2012. As the Premier, Wu Kaiping also oversaw the economic response to Western sanctions against China after the 2014 annexation of Rehe Province by the Republic of China, working to insulate the Chinese economy from the effects of the sanctions. Since stepping down as head of the Executive Yuan in 2016, he has lived in retirement but still sometimes advises the National Development and Reform Commission and the Finance Ministry.

Early life and education

Wu Kaiping was born in 1954 in Shanghai, then in the People's Republic of China, to a family with a tradition of civil service going back to the Qing dynasty. He studied at the Central University of Finance and Economics and received a degree in public finance and tax before doing postgraduate work at the prestigious Tsinghua University, graduating in 1976 with a master's degree.

Central banker

He briefly worked as a researcher and archivist at the Ministry of Finance from 1977 to 1981 before joining the People's Bank of China, the central bank of the PRC. Wu held various positions at the People's Bank, becoming an advisor and researcher to the PRC State Council, on macroeconomics in 1989 and the People's Bank secretary of macroeconomic management from 1994 to 1997. At the same time he also worked for the National Development and Reform Commission, the main government agency asked with macroeconomic oversight and implementing the Chinese economic reforms. During the 1990s he was one of the leading pro-reform economic officials in the state bureaucracy, though he was largely unknown at the time.

Wu Kaiping then became the Vice Governor of the People's Bank from 1997 to 1999, while Qin Junyi was the Governor, and subsequently succeeded him in that position in September 1999. He was an ally of Ren Longyun, who would become the last (acting) Secretary General during the Revolution of 1999–2000 and the fall of communism in China. After the reestablishment of the Republic of China in January 2000, Wu continued as the Governor of the renamed Central Bank of the Republic of China and guided monetary policy as the country continued its economic reform.

Wu served as the principal economic advisor to Chinese President Ren Longyun from 2003 to 2012, after the dismissal of Qin Junyi. He encouraged the president to pursue the reforms, that were ongoing since the 1960s, to create a mixed market socialist economy rather than privatizing most state property, resources, and utilities, as some in the Chinese government and the International Monetary Fund had advised. Qin stepped down from his position as the Vice Premier of the Republic of China in 2003 over disagreements, as he had advocated a gradual privatization of most industries that were not strategically important to the government and greater integration with Western economies, through openness and less government control. Wu advised maintaining a larger degree of government control, while still providing enough freedom for foreign companies to do business in China. Although the former view was initially considered, by 2003 President Ren preferred the latter and so Wu replaced him as the main economic advisor and remained as the head of the ROC Central Bank.

In 2010 he stepped down as Governor of the Central Bank and was appointed as the Minister of Finance by Premier Han Zhanshu, staying in that position for two years before replacing Han as the Premier of the Republic of China.

Personal life

He is married and has two children. Wu Kaiping was a member of the Chinese Communist Party from 1971 until the Revolutions of 2000, then joining the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang).