Lou Jiwei (; born December 1950), is a Chinese politician, and current director of the 13th CPPCC Foreign Affairs Committee. Lou was Chairman of China's

National Council for Social Security Fund National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ...

, Minister for Finance, Chairman of

China Investment Corporation China Investment Corporation (CIC) is a sovereign wealth fund that manages part of China's foreign exchange reserves. China's largest sovereign fund, CIC was established in 2007 with about US$200 billion of assets under management. In Mar ...

and

Central Huijin Investment Central Huijin Investment Ltd. is a Chinese sovereign fund company under the China Investment Corporation owned by the State Council of China. Established in 2003 by the People's Bank of China, five years later it became a wholly-owned subsidia ...

, Vice Minister of Finance of China and Vice-Governor of

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Biography

Lou Jiwei was born in December 1950, is from

Yiwu Yiwu () is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Jinhua, in central Zhejiang province, China. It is best known for hosting the Yiwu International Trade City, the world’s largest wholesale market for small commodities. History Y ...

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

, and holds a master's degree in economics. He started working in February 1968, joined the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

in January 1973, and graduated from the Institute of Quantitative and Technological Economics of the

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) is a Chinese state research institute and think tank. It is a ministry-level institution under the State Council of the People's Republic of China. The CASS is the highest academic institution and c ...

with a major in economic system analysis in December 1984. He is considered outspoken. In 2013, President

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping, pronounced (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China), chairman of the Central Military Commission ...

called for the creation of

state-owned State ownership, also called public ownership or government ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, property, or enterprise by the national government of a country or state, or a public body representing a community, as opposed to ...

investment companies to invest in key industries such as

civil aviation Civil aviation is one of two major categories of flying, representing all non-military and non-state aviation, which can be both private and commercial. Most countries in the world are members of the International Civil Aviation Organization and ...

energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...

, mineral resources,

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by ...

, and logistics. As Finance Minister, and with prior sovereign fund experience as the chair of China Investment Corporation and its former CEO, Lou was tasked with developing this proposal and served as lead author for the State Council's "Opinions on Reforming and Improving the State-Owned Assets Management System."

Timeline of positions

* February 1968 – February 1973: Soldier,

South Sea Fleet The Southern Theater Command Navy (STCN), or the South Sea Fleet (SSF) until 2018, is a formation of China's People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and the naval component of the Southern Theater Command. History In December 1949, the Fourth Fi ...

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

* February 1973 – February 1978: Worker, Shougang Group then Beijing Research Institute of Automation for Machinery Industry * February 1978 – February 1982: Student, B.S., Department of Computer Science and Technology,

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (THU) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Constructio ...

* February 1982 – February 1984: Student,

M.S. A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medicine ...

, Institute of Quantitative and Technological Economics,

* December 1984 – June 1986: Principal Staff, Finance Group, Research Office,

General Office of the State Council A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED Online ...

* June 1986 – August 1988: Deputy Director, Finance Group, Research Office,

* March 1986 – September 1986: Co-Director of Finance and Taxation Group, State Council Economic System Reform Program Design Leading Group (seconded)) * August 1988 – September 1988: Director, Cost Price Group, Institute of Finance and Trade Economics,

* September 1988 – February 1989: Principal Staff, Office of Economic System Restructuring,

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

Municipal People's Government * February 1989 – January 1992: Deputy Director, Office of Economic System Restructuring,

Municipal People's Government * January 1992 – September 1995: Director, Department of Macro-Control System, State Commission for Economic System Restructuring * September 1995 – March 1998: Vice Governor and Member of Party Committee,

Provincial People's Government * March 1998 – February 2007: Deputy Minister and Deputy Party Chief,

Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China The Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China is the Constituent departments of the State Council, constituent department of the State Council of the People's Republic of China which administers macroeconomic policies and the annu ...

* February 2007 – September 2007: Deputy Secretary-General,

State Council of the People's Republic of China The State Council of the People's Republic of China, also known as the Central People's Government, is the chief administrative authority and national cabinet. It is constitutionally the highest administrative organ of the country and the e ...

& Director of Preparatory Group, National Foreign Exchange Investment Corporation (

) * September 2007 – March 2013: Chair and Party Chief,

and

* March 2013 – November 2016: Minister and Party Chief,

* November 2016 – March 2019: Chair and Member of Party Committee,

* March 2019 – Present: Director, 13th Foreign Affairs Committee of the

CPPCC The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s united front system. Its members advise and put proposals ...

Lou is a member of the

16th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection The 16th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) was elected at the 16th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party on 15 November 2002. Its 1st Plenary Session elected the Secretary, deputy secretaries and the 16th Standing Com ...

, alternate member of the

17th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The 17th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was elected by the 17th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, 17th Congress on 21 October 2007, and sat until the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, 18th Nat ...

, member of the

18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was elected by the 18th National Congress on 15 November 2012, and sat in plenary sessions until the communing of the 19th National Congress in 2017. It was formally proceeded by the 17t ...

, representative of the

19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party 19 (nineteen) is the natural number following 18 and preceding 20. It is a prime number. Mathematics Nineteen is the eighth prime number. Number theory 19 forms a twin prime with 17, a cousin prime with 23, and a sexy prime with 13 ...

, and standing member of the 13th CPPCC National Committee.

Comments on 2021 economic data

On 11 December 2021, at a forum held by the China Centre for International Economic Exchanges in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, Lou criticized the main economic indicators as insufficiently reflecting major economic problems, implying that recently released official warnings about economic pressures facing the country could not be explained by the indicators. In further support of his point, he mentioned his belief that among the 150 million economic entities registered as of 1 Novemberan increase by a half compared to a decade earlier, at least 40 million were not active.

Awards

In 2008,

Time magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

considered Lou to be one of the 100 most influential people in the world.Time.com: The 2008 TIME 100
Accessed May 8, 2008 Forbes Magazine considered him to be the 30th most powerful person in the world, according to their "Powerful People 2010" list. In 2011 he was included in the 50 Most Influential ranking of

Bloomberg Markets ''Bloomberg Markets'' is a magazine published six times a year by Bloomberg L.P. as part of Bloomberg News. Aimed at global financial professionals, ''Bloomberg Markets'' publishes articles on the people and issues related to global financial m ...

magazine. Lou was listed as twelfth on aiCIO's 2012 list of the 100 most influential institutional investors worldwide.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lou, Jiwei 1950 births Chinese Communist Party politicians from Zhejiang Living people Ministers of finance of the People's Republic of China People from Yiwu People's Republic of China politicians from Zhejiang Political office-holders in Guizhou Politicians from Jinhua