Zhou Xiaochuan
Zhou Xiaochuan is governor of the People's Bank of China (PBOC) and a member of the 17th CCP Central Committee. He served as chair of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) from February 2000 to December 2002, during which time he earned a reputation for pushing the institutionalization of strict supervision requirements over China's nascent stock markets.
Born in 1948 in Dong'an, Heilongjiang, Zhou graduated from Beijing Chemical Engineering Institute in 1975. He later graduated from Qinghua University in 1985 with a doctorate in systems engineering. From 1979-1985, Zhou took part in economic reform policy analyses, earning the respect of then-Premier Zhao Ziyang and showing bright promise as an economic reformist.
Zhou began his career by working for the Beijing Institute of Automation. He has also served as a member of the State Commission for Restructuring the Economy and as assistant minister of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade. In 1995, he was appointed director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange and served in that position until April of 1998. He was simultaneously the vice governor of the PBOC until he was appointed governor of the China Construction Bank of China in 1999.
In February of 2000, Zhou was appointed chair of the CSRC, where he oversaw significant advances in the institutionalization of supervision requirements over China's recalcitrant listed companies. Beginning in March 2000, Zhou became a member of the PBOC Monetary Policy Commission and was named PBOC governor in December 2002. He was appointed a full member of the 16th Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee in November 2002.
Zhou, who has published more than 10 books and over 100 academic articles, is the son of the highly influential former minister of Machine Industry, the late Zhou Jiannan. Zhou's brother, Zhou Xiaohe, was the chair of Venturetech, a company shut down by the PBOC for irregular business practices.