China deputies to attend summits in Japan

China’s most senior financial leaders would not attend the annual IMF and World Bank meetings, which will be held in Tokyo, Reuters reported, citing a Xinhua news agency report. Instead, China’s deputy central bank governor and vice finance minister would reportedly lead the central bank’s delegation, in what appeared to be a retaliatory snub to Japan. People’s Bank of China governor Zhou Xiaochuan and Finance Minister Xie Xuren were not expected to attend. Both offices declined to comment whether the pair were heading to Tokyo. The annual meetings, held in Japan for the first time in nearly 50 years, were expected to see 20,000 attendees. The absence of Zhou and Xie would indicate that territorial disputes are threatening the relationship between Asia’s two largest economies.