"Revaluer" appointed to monetary committee

The State Council has appointed an economist noted for his support for yuan revaluation to the People's Bank of China's monetary-policy committee, the Wall Street Journal reported. At an academic conference in July, Fan Gang said China could allow the yuan to appreciate 3-4% a year to help correct global imbalances. The yuan has appreciated just under 1.2% this year against the dollar. Fan, who succeeds Yu Yongding as the academic member of the 13-strong team, has said he prefers a managed floating exchange-rate regime over a full float of China's currency. The State Council dictates decisions on monetary and foreign-exchange policy, but the monetary-policy committee – which is composed of representatives from the Ministry of Finance, Bureau of Statistics, and the country's banking, securities, and insurance regulators – is considered to be an important venue for ministries to coordinate policy stances and implementation. Fan is a professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a government-backed think tank, and Peking University, and also heads the National Economic Research Institute, a non-government research organization.