China finance chiefs to skip Japan IMF meetings

JAPAN: Two of China's top economic officials will boycott IMF and World Bank meetings in Japan, officials said Wednesday, 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 centrepiece of the final day of the annual conference. He will now send his deputy, the International Monetary Fund 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 IMF-World 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.

AFP