Wang Hongzhang, a distinctly low-profile central bank official, will probably soon set out on a journey full of public appearances as he has been nominated as executive director of China Construction Bank (CCB), the country's second largest lender.
The nomination was unanimously backed by 13 voting directors and will be submitted to the first extraordinary general meeting of 2012 for consideration on Jan. 16, 2012, the state-owned bank said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Tuesday.
The People's Bank of China (PBOC), the country's central bank, on Wednesday still had Wang listed on its website as the head of the commission for discipline inspection.
Wang started "acquainting himself with the situation" at CCB Monday afternoon, the Shanghai Securities News reported Wednesday, citing sources. It said Wang will be elected the new chairman of CCB "if nothing unexpected occurs."
The nomination came after Guo Shuqing, 55, the former chairman of CCB, was appointed chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission in late October.
Wang, a 57-year-old certified accountant, joined the central bank after receiving a master's degree in economics from Liaoning Institute of Finance and Economics in 1978.
In January 1984, he began working as a credit official at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, which is currently the country's largest lender, and proceeded with various positions in the bank.
He returned to the central bank in April 1996 as the deputy director-general of the supervision bureau and moved on to other posts until taking a role as the head of the commission for discipline inspection in November 2003.
The newspaper report said people close to CCB refused to comment on the soon-to-be leader as Wang has made rare media appearances and the public knows little about him.
"Wang Hongzhang has work experience both in commercial banks and in the administration department of the central bank, which makes him a fit for the role of a board chairman of a big bank," said Guo Tianyong, director of the China Banking Research Center at the Central University of Finance and Economics.
Wang is familiar with the business of commercial banks and has a profound understanding of macroeconomics as he has participated in policy-making at the central bank, Guo said.
"Wang Hongzhang is a pioneer in China's contemporary finance industry and is very familiar with the evolution of the country's financial sector," said Xia Bin, a member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the central bank.
"Managing and running CCB will not be difficult for him," Xia said.
Nevertheless, Wang must feel pressure about where he will steer the world's second most valuable financial institution with nearly 12 trillion yuan (over 1.88 trillion U.S. dollars) in total assets.
CCB sold shares publicly for the first time in Hong Kong seven months after Guo Shuqing took the reins in March 2005 after working for the central bank and the foreign exchange regulator since 2001.
The bank was listed in Shanghai in 2007, making it the first state-owned Chinese bank to float shares in both bourses.
The net profit of CCB topped 135 billion yuan in 2010, compared with 69 billion yuan for 2007 and 47 billion yuan for 2005.
Guo Tianyong said the new chairman will have a limited operation scope, given that the major state-owned lender has already listed on the markets and has established stable corporate governance structures.
Source:xinhuanet