People’s Bank of China Deputy Governor to Lecture at UC
People’s Bank of China deputy governor to give public lecture at UC
February 21,
2014
Hu Xiaolian, a deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, will give a public lecture on Monetary Policy in China: Past, Present and Future at the University of Canterbury (UC) on Tuesday, February 25.
Hu Xiaolian will talk to academics, UC staff and
students, invited guests and members of the public at 11.45
am in the James Hight building’s Undercroft.
She is
in charge of monetary policy at the People’s Bank of China
and her visit to campus comes at an interesting time. China
overtook Australia as New Zealand’s largest trading
partner.
In the first quarter last year, the value of
goods and services traded between China and New Zealand
exceeded the sum of imports from and exports to
Australia.
UC Associate Professor Alfred Guender says
six years ago China ranked as the third most important
trading partner. This change is remarkable and underscores
the growing importance of trade relations between Asia’s
new powerhouse and New Zealand, he says.
``Yet, when
it comes to monetary policy, the general public in New
Zealand knows very little about China’s monetary policy
goals, strategies and implementation. A change in the tune
of monetary policy in China does not grab headlines in the
financial press to the same extent as in the United States
or in Australia.
``Hu Xiaolian is likely to emphasise
that China’s monetary policy has evolved gradually over
time. Initially, guided by an export-led development
strategy, the focus of monetary policy rested squarely on
the exchange rate vis-à-vis the United States dollar.
``For many years China rigidly pegged its exchange rate
to the dollar at a level which enabled it to gain a foothold
and later expand its share of exports in world markets.
Indeed, in the early years of the new millennium, China
began to run staggering current account surpluses which
peaked in 2007 at more than 10 percent of GDP.
``The persistent current account surpluses with the United States have made China the largest holder of US Treasury securities and thus the largest creditor of the United States.
``In recent years, China’s monetary
policy focus has shifted slowly from an exclusive external
objective – keeping the exchange rate vis-à-vis the US
dollar pegged – to an internal objective which accords
greater importance to keeping inflation low and stable.
``Her talk will provide the academic community and the
people of Canterbury with the opportunity to listen to a
practitioner’s views on the evolving character of monetary
policy in China,’’ Professor Guender says.
Hu
Xiaolian has been ranked by Wall Street Journal as one of
the top women in the world to watch.
In the 1980s, she
worked in New Zealand as an intern at the Reserve
Bank.
ENDS