China’s currency exchange regulator, which manages the world’s biggest foreign-exchange reserves, appointed Pacific Investment Management Co. hedge-fund manager, Changhong Zhu, to lead the reserve management department.
Zhu will arrive to his national China in February to lead the Reserve Management Department of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), Pimco founder Bill Gross and CEO Mohamed El-Erian said yesterday. SAFE, which administers $2.3 trillion, confirmed the appointment in a statement today.
SAFE said earlier this month it will “recuperate” its consumption of the nation’s foreign-exchange funds and preserve economic and financial safety next year. China held $798.9 billion of U.S. Treasuries at the end of September.
Chinese head of state Wen Jiabao said that the nation was “apprehensive” about the security of its investment in U.S. debt, as a weakening dollar battered the value of its reserves. The government in July selected U.S.-educated central banker Yi Gang as the head of SAFE, reinstating Hu Xiaolian, who guided the Reserve Management Department from 2005.
