Blog: China Has Lost a ‘Pragmatic’ Voice With the Death of Former Finance Minister Jin Renqing

I was sad to learn that Jin Renqing (金人庆), former Chinese finance minister, had passed away. I wrote this piece in memory of him.

In 1995 I joined the investment banking department of Barclays, which was responsible for that area of the business in Greater China. On a day in March 1997, a colleague from the banking department of the Asia Pacific branch turned to me for help, saying there were some problems with a loan granted to Beijing International Trust Co. Ltd. (BITIC). The $45 million loan was granted by a syndicate of seven to eight banks based on the credit of the municipal government of Beijing. However, on the maturity date, Barclays received a handwritten fax from BITIC, which requested a renewal because “the loan was used for a project on Hainan Island and could not be repaid on time.” I should note that $45 million was a lot of money 25 years ago.