China kept its central bank governor in place today, to widespread surprise, as the country struggles to deal with headwinds to its economy.

His stay Yi Gang to the post of governor of the People’s Bank of China was confirmed by the Chinese parliament, the proceedings of which many expected to see whether Mr. Yi, who is reaching retirement age, would step down or not.

Other top officials of the Chinese president’s financial staff also remained in their posts Xi Jinpingespecially the Wang Wentao and Liu Kunwho remain respectively Ministers of Trade and Finance.

The Chinese government is seeking to revive the Chinese economy, whose growth rate fell to 3% of GDP last year. It was one of her worst performances in decades.

The real estate market, which together with the construction sector accounts for more than a quarter of China’s GDP, remains languishing after being hit when Beijing began taking steps to reduce excessive borrowing and soaring speculation, the 2020.

The National People’s Congress, China’s parliament, also confirmed the appointments of key allies of President Xi Jinping to his new government.

THE Ding Suexianghis main partner, and He Lifenghis traveling companion for many years, were named new deputy prime ministers by the new prime minister Li Chiang.

Messrs. Ding and He received the votes of almost all 2,900 members of parliament. While the former mayor of Tianjin Zhang Guoqing and the former secretary of the local party organization in Shanxi Province, Mr Liu Guozhong, vice presidents of the government were also elected.

To further strengthen his hold on power, Mr Xi is filling the top echelons of government with his own people, including his staunch ally Li Chiang, who was sworn in as the new premier on Saturday, a day after the head of state was unanimously elected to a historic third term. term in the presidency.

Messrs. Ding and He are “close political allies of President Xi” and the relationship between Mr He and President Xi in particular spans “decades”, analysts at Japanese financial group Nomura pointed out in a note this week.

These relations “may help the new government to implement its policy and guarantee inter-ministerial coordination”, they estimated.

“Her selection to continue in these critical roles indicates an emphasis on solvency and stability,” commented Matty Beckinck, director of China at the Economist Intelligence Corporate Network. “Perhaps it is also an implicit recognition of the challenges for China right now,” he added.