Liu Mingkang (born August 28, 1946 in Fuzhou, Fujian) is a Chinese former politician, public servant and economist. He graduated from the University of London in 1987. In 1988, he received an MBA from the Cass Business School. He served as chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission from its creation in 2003 until he reached the retirement age of 65. During his tenure he was responsible for putting in place an effective regulatory structure which helped the Chinese banking system weather the global financial crisis and emerge relatively healthy and well capitalized. Liu told the Boao Forum for Asia in 2012 that liberalization of financial markets is "part of a package" in the latest Five-Year Plan for promoting domestic-driven growth and rebalancing exports and imports. The liberalization "is not a piecemeal approach, but part of a series of building blocks, he said", according to one report.

Early life

Liu grew up in Shanghai after completing high school in 1965. He was sent to do manual labour at a farm in Jiangsu province where he taught himself English studying old BBC textbooks and listening to VOA. In 1979, at age 29 he passed the civil service exam. Liu was influenced by Margaret Thatcher's privatisation in 1984 while serving at the Bank of China's branch in London. He subsequently earned an MBA from City University of London.

Career highlights

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