China’s finance minister Lou Jiwei steps down, former tax chief to take role by Frank Tang in The SCMP, Nov 7, 2016

hina’s finance minister Lou Jiwei, who has been struggling in recent years to tackle the country’s huge debt problems, is stepping down as he approaches retirement age.
He will be replaced by Xiao Jie, a former tax bureau chief who has previously suggested that the government has room to raise taxes on its citizens.
The announcement was made by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on Monday, the top legislature which has the final word on ministerial positions.
Xiao, 59, a deputy secretary general in the cabinet, worked for more than two decades in the finance ministry. He also headed China’s tax administration for six years.
After the US magazine Forbes listed mainland China as the world’s second harshest tax regime in a “tax misery” survey in 2009, Xiao, then tax chief, published a long article arguing that China’s overall tax burden was not high and had room to expand.
Xiao is taking over a position with a crucial role in guiding the future of the Chinese, and arguably the global, economy.
China is facing a larger fiscal deficit with government revenues and the country’s economy slowing.
Debt levels in the Chinese economy have also surged to a level of nearly 300 per cent to the nation’s gross domestic product, an unprecedented amount for an emerging country.
Lou, 66, is known for his efforts to tidy up China’s fragmented fiscal system and to clean up debts incurred directly or indirectly by local governments.
The last major policy announcement under Lou came last Friday when the ministry announced that the government would not be liable for debts incurred by financing vehicles set up by local authorities.
China has conducted a programme to swap trillions of yuan worth of local government debts into bonds under Lou’s tenure. He also played a key role in implementing China’s value added tax reform, the biggest tax regime change in decades.
Lou’s retirement and Xiao’s appointment are part of a broad ministerial reshuffle in Beijing ahead of the Communist Party Congress scheduled for next autumn.
China’s legislature also announced personnel changes at the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of National Security on Monday. http://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2043588/chinas-finance-minister-lou-jiwei-steps-down-former-tax-chief