Jan. 3 (Bloomberg) -- China appointed Yi Gang and Ma Delun as vice governors of the central bank as the government reshuffles jobs after the twice-a-decade Communist Party congress in October.

The State Council, China's cabinet, approved the promotions from assistant governors on Dec. 23, the People's Bank of China said in a statement on its Web site today. Wu Xiaoling, 61, formerly the vice governor overseeing monetary policy, exited.

The appointments haven't ended speculation that a bigger move is possible: the replacement of Governor Zhou Xiaochuan, 59, now that he's served five years in the role. He presided over the first change in currency policy in a decade as China ended a peg to the dollar and revalued the yuan in 2005.

``People are still speculating about whether Zhou will be replaced,'' said Shen Minggao, an economist at Citigroup Inc. in Beijing.

The promotions fill vacancies from the exits of Wu, who's of retirement age, and Xiang Junbo, now the head of Agricultural Bank of China.

Yi, who previously helped Wu in her oversight of monetary policy decisions, has academic qualifications including a doctorate in economics from the U.S. He's also been a professor at Peking University.

The 49-year-old has ``rich experience'' in monetary policy and ``a solid academic background,'' said Citigroup's Shen.

Currency Regulator

Ma, 58, has worked across a range of central bank departments, served as its spokesman, and was deputy director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, the nation's currency regulator, between 2001 and 2005.

The People's Bank of China has six vice governors. Its Web site doesn't specify their responsibilities.

China is trying to cool the economy after inflation jumped to an 11-year high in November.

The government raised interest rates six times last year, curbed bank lending, and allowed the yuan to gain at double the pace of 2006. The currency rose today to a post-revaluation high of 7.2724 versus the dollar.

Yi said last year that the central bank is ``resolute'' in fighting consumer-price increases and that it wants to boost deposit rates, so that returns are higher than the rate of inflation. He also said the pace of yuan gains was ``fine.''

Reshuffles since the party congress have included the appointment of trade minister Chen Deming.

To contact the reporter on this story: Li Yanping in Beijing at yli16@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 3, 2008 00:32 EST