Liu He (politician)

{{Other people|Liu He|Liu He (disambiguation){{!}}Liu He}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Liu He

| native_name = {{lang|zh-Hans-CN|{{nobold|刘鹤}}}}

| birthname =

| image = Liu He (cropped) 2.jpg

| imagesize =

| caption = Liu He in 2023

| office = Vice Premier of China

| premier = Li Keqiang

| alongside = Han Zheng, Sun Chunlan, Hu Chunhua

| term_start = 19 March 2018

| term_end = 12 March 2023

| office1 = Director of the Office of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission{{efn|Office was known as the "Director of the Office of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Leading Group" before March 2018.}}

| term_start1 = 20 March 2013

| term_end1 = October 2023

| deputy1 = Chen Xiwen

| 1blankname1 = {{nowrap|General secretary}}

| 1namedata1 = Xi Jinping

| predecessor1 = Zhu Zhixin

| successor1 = He Lifeng

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1952|1|25|df=y}}

| birth_place = Beijing, China

| death_date =

| death_place =

| party = Chinese Communist Party (1976–present)

| spouse =

| children =

| signature = Signed signature page of the Economic and Trade Agreement Between the Government of the United States and the Government of the People's Republic of China (Chinese version, scan by Wang Ying of Xinhua, crop of the signature of Liu He).jpg

| relations =

| religion =

| education = Renmin University (BS, MS)
Harvard University (MPA)

| footnotes =

| website =

}}

Liu He ({{lang-zh|s=刘鹤|p=Liú Hè}}; born 25 January 1952) is a Chinese economist and retired politician who served as a vice premier of China from 2018 to 2023. Additionally, he served as the director of the Office serving the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2013 to 2023, the director of the Financial Stability and Development Committee from 2017 to 2023, as well as a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party from 2017 to 2022.

Liu studied industrial economics in the Renmin University of China in the 1980s, he worked in various jobs in the State Council Development Research Center, the State Planning Commission, the State Information Center, and the State Council Information Office between 1986 and 2003, being responsible for economic affairs. He was a deputy director of the Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs between 2003 and 2011, and deputy director of the Development Research Center between 2011 and 2013; during this time, he was an influential advisor to CCP general secretary Hu Jintao on economic affairs.

Liu became a member of the CCP Central Committee in 2013, when he became a deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, as well as the director of the Office of the Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs. During this period, he advised CCP general secretary Xi Jinping on economic affairs, and was considered a primary architect of Xi's economic policies. He was promoted to the Politburo in 2017 and became a vice premier in 2018, where he continued to take on economic policies and also became the top trade negotiator with the United States due to the China–United States trade war. Liu retired from the Politburo in 2022, and stepped down from vice premiership in 2023.

Early life and education

Born in Beijing on 25 January 1952,{{cite web |date= |title=Liu He 刘鹤 |url=https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/20thpartycongress_liu_he.pdf |access-date=23 June 2023 |publisher=Brookings Institution}} Liu attended Beijing 101 Middle School for middle and high school; some foreign and Chinese media have mistakenly reported that Liu attended the same middle school with Xi Jinping, though Xi attended the Bayi School and Beijing No. 25 School. Nevertheless, they still likely grew close ties as they grew up in the same neighborhood.

Liu was sent down to Taonan, Jilin during the Cultural Revolution, where he worked in an agricultural commune. In 1970, he joined 82nd Group Army, and once became a deputy squad leader. He retired from army after three years, and was assigned to Beijing Radio Factory as a worker for another three years. He joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in December 1976. He received a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Economics and Management from Renmin University of China in 1983 and a Master of Science in Industrial Economics in 1986. He was a visiting scholar at Seton Hall University School of Business from 1992 to 1993.{{Cite news |last=Porter |first=Sarah |date=19 March 2018 |title=Liu He: China's quiet economist becomes top economic leader |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-43251862 |access-date=23 June 2023}} He received a Master of Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School{{Cite book |last=Li |first=David Daokui |title=China's World View: Demystifying China to Prevent Global Conflict |date=2024 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=978-0393292398 |location=New York, NY |author-link=David Daokui Li}}{{Rp|page=195}} in 1995. Liu was also a founder of the Chinese Economists 50 Forum.

Career

He has published widely on macroeconomics, Chinese industrial and economic development policy, new economic theory and the information industry, writing five books and over 200 articles.{{Cite web |last=Vitae |first=China |title=China Vitae : Biography of Liu He |url=http://www.chinavitae.com/biography/Liu_He/bio |access-date=2018-03-19 |website=chinavitae.com}}

Liu briefly worked as a researcher in the Development Research Center of the State Council between 1986 and 1987. Afterwards, he worked as a deputy director of the Research Office of the State Planning Commission, and later a deputy director of the Industrial Policy and Long-term Planning Department of the Commission between 1987 and 1998. Between the years of 1998 and 2001, he serves as the executive deputy director of the State Information Center, and concurrently the chairman of the China Economic Information Company. He was a deputy director at the State Council Information Office (SCIO) between 2001 and 2003, in charge of e-commerce and international cooperation.

Liu became a deputy director of the Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs in 2003, a position he served until 2011, where he was responsible for macro-economic policy planning and drafting speeches for CCP general secretary Hu Jintao during the Central Economic Work Conference. He briefly returned to the Development Research Center between 2011 and 2013, where he served as the CCP secretary and deputy director.

In 2013, he became a member of the CCP Central Committee, and was appointed as a deputy director and CCP secretary of the National Development and Reform Commission, serving in that office until 2018. He also became the director of the Office of the Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs, which was later upgraded to a commission in 2018. During this time, Liu began advising CCP general secretary Xi Jinping on a series of economic initiatives, and was believed to be one of the primary architects of Chinese economic policy at the time. He has been described as "one of the technocrats that Xi Jinping trusts a great deal".{{Cite web |last=Chotiner |first=Isaac |date=22 May 2019 |title=A Political Economist on How China Sees Trump's Trade War |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/a-political-economist-on-how-china-sees-trumps-trade-war |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20190523034716/https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/a-political-economist-on-how-china-sees-trumps-trade-war |archive-date=May 23, 2019 |access-date=May 23, 2019 |newspaper=The New Yorker}} He was the chief drafter of the communiqué at the Third Plenum of the 18th National CCP Congress, which promised to give "market forces" a "decisive" role in allocating resources.

= Vice Premier =

File:President Trump Talks Trade with the Vice Premier of the People’s Republic of China, Liu He, 2018 (27309127577).jpg Donald Trump in the Oval Office, 2018]]

At the CCP 19th National Congress in October 2017, Liu was promoted to the CCP Politburo. He also was put in charge of the newly established Financial Stability and Development Committee in November.{{cite news |last=Hornby |first=Lucy |last2=Mitchell |first2=Tom |date=19 March 2018 |title=China's Liu He to take broad economic role as vice-premier |newspaper=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/ceea03f4-2a85-11e8-9b4b-bc4b9f08f381 |access-date=20 June 2023}}{{cite news |last=Zhou |first=Xin |date=19 March 2018 |title=Liu He: China's new one-man debt bomb disposal unit |language=en |newspaper=South China Morning Post |url=http://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2137860/liu-he-chinas-new-one-man-debt-bomb-disposal-unit |access-date=19 March 2018}} In March 2018, Liu He was appointed as a vice premier in charge of finance and economic structural reforms in Li Keqiang Government.{{cite web |url = http://news.ifeng.com/a/20180319/56857742_0.shtml |title=国务院副总理、国务委员、各部部长完整名单 |access-date=2018-03-19 |date=March 19, 2018 |agency=Xinhua |language=Chinese}}

As vice premier, Liu has significantly contributed to Xi's key economic concepts such as "economic new normal" and "supply-side reform".

In May 2018, Liu He was also appointed top trade negotiator for the China–United States trade war. In early October 2019, Liu He negotiated with his US counterparts on a preliminary trade deal.{{Cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-12/donald-trump-calls-truce-china-us-trade-war/11596668|title='You're very tough negotiators': Trump's truce in China-US trade war|date=October 11, 2019|publisher=ABC News|language=en-AU|access-date=2019-10-27}}

Liu is generally considered to hold economically liberal views. He gave a keynote address to the 2018 World Economic Forum in Davos.{{cite news |last1=Bradsher |first1=Keith |date=January 28, 2018 |title=At Davos, the Real Star May Have Been China, Not Trump |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/28/business/davos-trump-china.html}}

He has been one of the key officials in the crackdown on Ant Group.

= Retirement =

Liu retired from the Politburo in October 2022, after the 20th CCP National Congress, as well as from vice premiership in March 2023, after the first session of the 14th National People's Congress.{{Cite news |date=23 June 2023 |title=Elder Liu He remains China’s economic guide, including on US strategy |work=South China Morning Post |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3225060/elder-liu-he-remains-chinas-economic-guide-including-us-strategy |access-date=23 June 2023}} He also retired as the director of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission Office by October 2023, where Vice Premier He Lifeng took over the position.{{Cite news |last=Tang |first=Frank |last2=Chen |first2=Frank |date=30 October 2023 |title=China’s Vice-Premier He Lifeng handed increased economic authority, takes over key policymaking role |work=South China Morning Post |url=https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3239659/chinas-vice-premier-he-lifeng-handed-increased-economic-authority-takes-over-key-policymaking-role |access-date=30 October 2023}} Nevertheless, he was reported to still be influential after his retirement, still attending meetings on economic affairs, and being asked to give input on dealing with the US on trade and economic issues, as well as on domestic economic policies. Liu also met with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in July 2023 and April 2024.{{cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/07/us-treasury-secretary-janet-yellen-meets-chinese-premier-li-qiang.html|title=U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen meets Chinese Premier Li Qiang}}{{cite web|url=https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2218|title=Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen to Travel to the People’s Republic of China}}

Family

Liu is married. His son Liu Tianran, is the founder of Tianyi Ziteng Asset Management (alternatively known as Skycus Capital) and served as its chairman until April 2017.{{cite news |url=https://www.ft.com/content/62554721-3b52-4cb9-8d1d-ccdf40b4e463 |newspaper=The Financial Times |title=Firm founded by son of China finance tsar invests heavily in tech |date=19 May 2021 |first1=Tom |last1=Mitchell |first2=Tabby |last2=Kinder |first3=Demetri |last3=Sevastopulo |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210519060155/https://www.ft.com/content/62554721-3b52-4cb9-8d1d-ccdf40b4e463 |archive-date=19 May 2021 |access-date=26 May 2021 |url-status=live }} In April 2025, the Financial Times reported that Liu Tianran was put under investigation over suspected financial-related corruption.{{Cite news |last=McMorrow |first=Ryan |last2=Alim |first2=Arjun Neil |last3=Sevastopulo |first3=Demetri |last4=Yu |first4=Sun |date=2025-04-06 |title=China investigates ‘princeling’ amid crackdown on finance industry |url=https://www.ft.com/content/47d8b4b9-226d-4045-8a42-db5f9be89a9f |access-date=2025-04-06 |work=Financial Times}}

Notes

References

{{s-ttl|title=Director of the National Informatization Expert Advisory Committee|years=2001–2003}}

{{s-aft|after={{ill|Qu Weizhi|zh|曲维枝}}}}

{{s-ttl|title=Deputy Head of the {{ill|National Science and Technology Leading Group|zh|国家科技领导小组}}|years=2018–present}}

{{s-ttl|title=Party Branch Secretary of Development Research Center of the State Council|years=2011–2013}}

{{s-ttl|title=Deputy Party Branch Secretary of the National Development and Reform Commission|years=2014–2018}}

{{s-ttl|title=Director of the {{ill|Office of the Central Financial and Economic Commission|zh|中央财经委员会办公室}}|years=2013–present}}

Category:Living people

Category:Harvard Kennedy School alumni

Category:1952 births

Category:Vice premiers of the People's Republic of China

Category:People's Republic of China politicians from Beijing

Category:Renmin University of China alumni

Category:20th-century Chinese economists

Category:Members of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party

Category:Members of the 19th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party

Category:Delegates to the 13th National People's Congress

Category:Seton Hall University alumni

Category:Economists from Beijing

Category:Chinese Communist Party politicians from Beijing