Article | Edited by Jiahe | Gu Ning
“ Zhang Wencai, Vice President of ICBC, became the new Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the World Bank. ”
On February 20, the official website of the Ministry of Finance announced that the World Bank announced on February 20, Washington time, the appointment of Zhang Wencai as the executive vice president and chief executive officer of the World Bank, responsible for institutional strategy, planning, budget, information technology services and sanctions system.
In recent years, with the continuous improvement of China's international status and influence, more and more Chinese executives have appeared in international financial institutions.
Deep "origin" with the World Bank
Zhang Wencai Becomes the Third Chinese Executive Vice President
After assuming the post of Vice President of ICBC in 2022, two years later, Zhang Wencai's career ushered in a turning point.
Zhang Wencai, 60 years old, is a financial master active in the international field. He has been working in relevant departments of international finance for a long time and has accumulated rich international work experience. In fact, Zhang Wencai's appointment is also reasonable. He has a deep relationship with the World Bank, and has had an intersection for decades. He joined the World Bank Department of the Ministry of Finance in July 1989 after graduating from Nankai University with a master's degree. In November 1993, he served as the assistant executive director of China to the World Bank. Later, Zhang Wencai "made great efforts" in many departments of the Ministry of Finance. During the nearly seven years from 1997 to 2004, Zhang Wencai successively served as the Deputy Director of the Agricultural Division of the World Bank Department, the Deputy Director of the Loan Planning Division of the International Division, the Deputy Director of the Technical Assistance and Intelligence Introduction Division, the Deputy Director of the Technical Assistance Division, the Director of the Technical Assistance Division, the Director of the International Financial Organization No. 1 Division Director of the First Division of International Economic Relations. In July 2004, Zhang Wencai was promoted to Deputy Director General of the International Department of the Ministry of Finance. After three years, Zhang Wencai also served as the executive director of the Asian Development Bank in China.
In July 2012, Zhang Wencai served as the director of the Foreign Financial Exchange Office of the Ministry of Finance (director level); In October 2013, Zhang Wencai returned to the Asian Development Bank as Vice President; After five years of hard work in the Asian Development Bank, Zhang Wencai took up the post of Director of the Department of International Financial Cooperation of the Ministry of Finance, and since January 2019, he has successively served as the Deputy Director of IFAD in China, the Director of New Development Bank and the Director of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in China. In June 2020, he served as the Vice President of Agricultural Development Bank of China. Relying on his rich experience in international finance, Zhang Wencai transferred the Vice President of the Bank in May 2022.
In addition, according to the President's Brief Survey, the public information shows that the entry about Yang Shaolin has been changed to the former Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the World Bank, and the information on the World Bank's official website has not been updated. According to the past practice, the chief executive officer of the bank is held by one person, so this time Zhang Wencai takes office, it is likely that he will replace Yang Shaolin.
Yang Shaolin is also a Chinese executive in the field of international development. In 1992, Yang Shaolin joined the World Bank Office of the Ministry of Finance as a project officer, and then served as the Executive Director of China in the World Bank Group from September 2009 to November 2013. During this period, he presided over one of the most important standing committees of the Executive Board of the World Bank, namely the Administrative Affairs Committee of the Governance and Executive Board.
At the beginning of 2016, Yang Shaolin became the Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the World Bank. At the same time, Yang Shaolin became the second Chinese executive vice president in the leadership of the World Bank. Zhang Shengman, the first Chinese executive vice president, served from 2001 to the end of 2005.
It is worth mentioning that in addition to the new executive vice president, the president of the World Bank will also experience changes in the first half of 2023. According to the official website of the World Bank, Anjie Peng was appointed by the Executive Board of the World Bank as the 14th President of the World Bank Group on May 3, 2023, with a five-year term beginning on June 2, 2023.
The Ministry of Finance introduced that the World Bank, founded in 1945, is the world's largest multilateral development institution. Its mission is to eradicate absolute poverty and promote shared prosperity on a livable planet. Its headquarters are in Washington, D.C. Since China resumed its legal seat in the World Bank in 1980, the two sides have maintained good cooperative relations.
Two vice presidents will be sent during the year,
"One chief and two deputy" to be filled in the senior management of Oral Bank
Zhang Wencai is the second vice president of the Export Import Bank of China to export this year. In January this year, Li, the vice president of the Bank, has been appointed as the "vice governor of finance" of Shaanxi Province.
As two executives of the Export Import Bank of China who have successively transferred to important positions at home and abroad this year, Li Jun's growth path is far from Zhang Wencai's, and he has long cultivated in the domestic banking industry. According to the open resume, Li Jun was born in Boli, Heilongjiang Province in January 1970. After graduating from Renmin University of China in 1992, he joined the Agricultural Bank of China Heilongjiang Branch. Since February 1995, he has taken the post of the new Agricultural Development Bank of China, serving as the vice president of Jixi Branch, the president of Heihe Branch, the director of Heilongjiang Branch Office, the vice president of Heilongjiang Branch, the general manager of the head office's grain, cotton and oil department The General Manager of the Grain, Cotton and Oil Department/the Poverty Alleviation Department of Industrial Development, the President and Secretary of the Party Committee of Hebei Branch concurrently serve as the Deputy Head of the Preparatory Group of Xiong'an Branch. In May 2020, Li Jun served as a member of the Party Committee and Vice President of the Export Import Bank of China, and in September 2023, he also served as an executive director.
According to the President's Brief Survey, the official website of the Export Import Bank of China shows that the resumes of Li Jun and Zhang Wenchai have not been removed. After updating, the structure of the senior management of the Bank will be adjusted as follows: Ren Shengjun, President, Chen Bin, Vice President, Zhang Shaohui, Zeng Mingzi, Leader of Discipline Inspection Team, Jiang Juhua, Secretary of the Board of Directors, Li Zhongyuan, Chief Risk Officer, and only two Vice Presidents need to be replaced.
A number of Chinese people have come to the fore in the field of international finance
in recent years. As China's international status and influence continue to improve, its position in the international economic and financial fields has also improved accordingly, and more and more familiar faces have appeared in international financial institutions.
As far as the World Bank is concerned, according to the President's Brief Survey, in addition to the three executive vice presidents mentioned above, there are two Chinese industry elites who have had World Bank experience.
In February 2008, Zoellick, then President of the World Bank, announced that Lin Yifu, a professor of economics at Peking University, was appointed as the Bank's chief economist and senior vice president in charge of development economics. In June 2012, Lin Yifu, whose term of office expired, left the World Bank and returned to Peking University to continue teaching.
In August 2012, the World Bank Group announced the appointment of Cai Jinyong, a Chinese banker, as the Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the World Bank Group's International Finance Corporation (IFC), which took effect on October 1, 2012. Previously, Cai Jinyong was CEO of Goldman Sachs Gaohua Securities Co., Ltd.
In addition, we can also find Chinese leaders in the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Since 2011, three consecutive IMF vice presidents have been Chinese nationals.
Zhu Min, who was born in 1952, has profound achievements in the financial field. In 2003, he became the Vice President of the Bank of China. After six years, Zhu Min was appointed as the deputy governor of the Central Bank. In 2010, Zhu Min, who was 58 years old at that time, served as a special adviser of IMF.
In 2011, Zhu Min officially took the post of Vice President of the International Monetary Fund, becoming the first Chinese ever to enter the top of the IMF.
Zhu Min stepped down in July 2016. Zhu Min was succeeded by Zhang Tao, the former Vice President of the People's Bank of China, who took office as one of the four executive vice presidents. In August 2021, Zhang Tao resigned and then joined PICC.
Zhang Tao was succeeded by Li Bo, a "post-70s" academic bully, who had studied abroad for many years, had a double doctorate degree and rich financial and government work experience. Previously, he served as the director of the Monetary Policy Department and the Treaty and Law Department. In 2018, Li Bo became the Vice Chairman of the Chinese Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, and a year later, Li Bo was appointed as the Vice Mayor of Chongqing Municipal People's Government. In April 2021, Li Bo took the post of Vice President of the Central Bank. Only four months later, Li Bo "parachuted" into the IMF, becoming the third Chinese vice president of the IMF.
In the context of the new era, China is increasingly becoming a big country. Since then, more Chinese are expected to appear on the international financial stage.
