G-20 Host Lou Jiwei on How Consensus Was Won

(Beijing) – Acknowledge the elephant in the room, but don't exaggerate its weight. That's the simple way of expressing Minister of Finance Lou Jiwei's attitude as a policymaker toward the big risks looming over the global financial system, including China's US$ 12 trillion economy.

It's a view Lou shared while hosting major-economy counterparts at a two-day meeting of the Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Shanghai. It also shaped his comments on tax reform and "government support" for banks saddled with bad debt at a National People's Congress press conference March 7 in Beijing.