'Chen Yuan' (陈元), born in January
1945, is Governor of the
China Development Bank.
Chen Yuan graduated with a Master' s degree in Industrial Economics from the Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He was appointed secretary of the
Xicheng District Committee of the
Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party (CPC) and director-general of the Beijing Municipal Commerce and Trade Department in August
1982.
During the political reforms introduced by
Hu Yaobang and
Zhao Ziyang in the mid and late 1980's, democratic voting system was tested in elections. In one of such elections, Chen Yuan run for a post against Chen Hao (the two are unrelated), the son of late field marshal
Chen Yi, and lost due to the general resentment against his conservative father
Chen Yun, who opposed reforms and liberalization. However, due to his family background, Chen Yuan was assigned to a higher position soon after his defeat in the democratic elections for the lower position: he assumed the post of deputy secretary of the leading party members' group and vice governor of the People's Bank of China in March
1988. Such move enraged the public, communist party members and ordinary citizens continuously voiced their complaints both privately and in public, until the bloody crackdown of Tiananmen Square Incident a year later.
Chen Yuan was secretary of CPC China Development Bank Committee and governor of CDB from March 1998 to the present, again, he was assigned to the post instead of being elected or approved by the legislative body of China. Originally, Chen Yuan was supposed to be assigned as the chief of the People's Bank of China, but the opposition was simply too great for the regime to carry it out, instead, he was assigned to a bank that is not as important as the central bank.
However, now aged over 60, the jealousy and politics have diminished, not least because he has shown himself to be a first class banker and administrator both at the People's Bank and the China Development Bank. Due to these achievements, in a meritocratic system, he might expect further promotion during the next year.
External links
★
Chen Yuan at
chinavitae.com