Qin Gang Removed As Foreign Min, Replaced By Predecessor Wang Yi

(MNI) London-Chinese state broadcaster CCTV has confirmed two major changes to senior positions. Foreign Minister Qin Gang, appointed in Dec 2022, has been removed from office to be replaced by his predecessor Wang Yi. Meanwhile, PBoC governor Yi Gang has been replaced by Pan Gongsheng. Qin had not been seen in public since late-June when he participated in a meeting of senior officials from Russia, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka.

• Wang Yi had been serving as Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission, the senior most foreign policy aide to President Xi Jinping, since the start of 2023 and following the five-yearly party congress in 2022 sits on the 24-member Politburo.
• SCMP: "Qin’s removal as foreign minister is in line with the Organic Law of the National People’s Congress, which came into effect in March 2021. The rule empowers the Standing Committee rather than a national congress to appoint or remove from office some members of the State Council." The seven-member Politburo Standing Committee comprises the top leadership of the CCP.
• At the PBoC, Yi Gang had served as central bank governor since 2018. His replacement Pan Gongsheng became Communist Party Secretary of the People's Bank of China on 1 July. Pan served as deputy PBoC governor since 2012 and as agency executive for the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), which drafts rules and regulations governing FX market activities/manages the state FX reserves.