China's vice-premier to lead anti-corruption charge

Senior financial official Wang Qishan was appointed to lead China’s anti-corruption department, following his election on Wednesday to the 205-member Central Committee at the end of the 18th Communist Party’s Congress, state media reported. Wang, the former vice-premier overseeing economic matters, was elected yesterday to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. “The bad news is that we are going to lose one of the most capable economic affairs managers … the good news is that the new Chinese leadership is really interested in doing something about corruption,” said Chinese politics academic Bo Zhiyue at the National University of Singapore. Wang ran China Construction Bank (601939.SH, 0939.HKG) and is an experienced trade and finance negotiator, resolving a debt crisis in Guangdong while he was vice governor of the province.