China finance chiefs to boycott Japan IMF meetings

TOKYO ( AFP) Ñ Two of China’s top economic officials will boycott the International Monetary Fund ( IMF) and World Bank meetings in Japan, officials said yesterday, as a territorial row between Tokyo and Beijing spills over into financial diplomacy.

The pull-out of the country’s finance minister and central bank chief comes as world leaders look to China to help reinvigorate faltering global growth amid fears of a worldwide slowdown.

People’s Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan had been due to deliver a lecture on Sunday, the centerpiece of the final day of the annual conference.

He will now send his deputy, the IMF said.

“We were informed two days ago that Governor Zhou’s schedule might require him to cancel his lecture in Tokyo,” a Fund spokesman said.

“It has now been confirmed that his deputy Yi Gang will represent him at the IMFWorld Bank Annual Meetings and will deliver his Per Jacobsson Lecture.”

The World Bank said it had been told the Chinese delegation would be led by the vice finance minister rather than Finance Minister Xie Xuren.

Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba said the news of their absence from such important international forums was “very disappointing.”

“I don’t think it will be a plus for China when you think about how the international community may interpret such action,” he added, according to Kyodo News.

China’s state- run Xinhua news agency reported that the Chinese delegation to the IMF and World Bank meetings “will be led by Yi Gang, vice governor of the People’s Bank of China, and Zhu Guangyao, vice minister of finance.”

Its report Tuesday did not mention Zhou or Xie but an official from the central bank confirmed that Zhou would not be in Tokyo.