Liu Hongru

Liu Hongru
Born	1930
Died	2025-03-14
Alma mater	Moscow State University; Moscow Finance College
Occupation(s)	Financial official, banker, academic
Years active	1977–1995 (government service)
Known for	Key figure in China's financial reforms; first chairman of China Securities Regulatory Commission; founding the PBC School of Finance

Liu Hongru (; 1930 – 14 March 2025) was a prominent Chinese official who played a crucial role in the country's financial reforms throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Between 1979 and 1995, he held several key positions including Vice President of the Agricultural Bank of China, Vice President of the People's Bank of China, Vice Director of the State Commission for Economic Restructuring, and Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission. He is widely regarded as one of the principal designers behind the early financial system that emerged during China's reform and opening-up period from the late 1970s to the 1990s. Additionally, Liu was instrumental in founding the PBC School of Finance, the graduate institution affiliated with the People's Bank of China at Tsinghua University.

Life and career

Born in 1930, Liu became a member of the Chinese Communist Party in 1948. He pursued studies at Moscow State University from 1955 to 1957 and obtained his doctorate in Money and Banking from the Moscow Finance College in 1959.

By late 1977, Liu was employed within the General Office of the People's Bank of China, which at that time functioned as China's sole financial institution operating under a monobank framework. Following Deng Xiaoping's 1979 instruction to transform banks into genuine banking institutions, Liu advanced efforts to modernize banking practices. He advocated for routing rural household savings through banks to state-owned enterprises instead of direct government disbursement. This shift allowed banks to provide loans for investment purposes rather than solely for operational expenses—an innovative change during that era.

In March 1979, Liu was pivotal in successfully re-establishing the Agricultural Bank of China, overcoming previous unsuccessful attempts. This initiative marked a significant move away from the monobank model and was followed by reconstituting other independent entities such as the Bank of China, People's Construction Bank, and People's Insurance Company of China. Liu also contributed to creating CITIC Group and urban credit cooperatives. By 1983, after separating institutions like the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the People's Bank concentrated on its central banking functions. In 1984, he led a financial reform task force under the State Council that eliminated corporate budgetary funding. Subsequently, he supported establishing joint-stock banks including Bank of Communications (1986) and China Merchants Bank (1987).

Liu played a foundational role in establishing China's formal capital markets. In 1986, he convened a significant conference with U.S. securities industry leaders, among them New York Stock Exchange Chairman John J. Phelan Jr., who became the first foreign individual to hold Chinese corporate shares through arrangements facilitated by Liu. After the political unrest in Tiananmen Square in 1989, Liu counseled against suspending stock exchange operations despite demands for closure. His discussions with Party Secretary Jiang Zemin in 1990 resulted in official endorsement of both the Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Following Deng Xiaoping's southern tour in 1992, which reaffirmed support for securities markets, Vice Premier Zhu Rongji appointed Liu as inaugural chairman of the newly formed China Securities Regulatory Commission, a role he fulfilled until his retirement in March 1995.

Liu served as an Alternate Member of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party from 1982 to 1992. After retiring from government service, he assumed leadership positions such as Deputy Director of the Economics Committee within the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Vice President roles at both China Finance and Banking Society and China National Debt Association, President of Shanghai Institute of Financial and Legal Studies, as well as academic appointments at Tsinghua University and City University of Hong Kong. Moreover, he held non-executive directorships at publicly listed firms including PetroChina (1999–2014), Titan Petrochemicals Group Limited (2002–2006), Oriental Metals (Holdings) Company Limited, Concepta Investments Limited, and CITIC 21CN (2004–2008).

Liu passed away on 14 March 2025 at age ninety-four.

See also

• Yuan Geng
• Wang Jianxi