China’s Central Bank Chief Warns of ‘Sudden, Contagious and Hazardous’ Financial Risks
- Wide-ranging commentary also pushes for tougher regulation
- Zhou says China needs to reform, open up financial markets
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China’s financial system is becoming significantly more vulnerable due to high leverage, according to central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan, who has made a series of blunt warnings in recent weeks about debt levels in the world’s second-largest economy.
Latent risks are accumulating, including some that are “hidden, complex, sudden, contagious and hazardous,” even as the overall health of the financial system remains good, Zhou wrote in a lengthy article published on the People’s Bank of China’s website late Saturday.