Update: China Appoints New Finance Ministry Chief

China has appointed public finance specialist Lan Foan (蓝佛安) as the Ministry of Finance’s Communist Party group chief, replacing Liu Kun, according to a statement released Thursday by the ministry.

The appointment, which came shortly after Lan stepped down as party committee chief of Shanxi province, put him on track to also take over the position of finance minister from Liu.

Liu is a staunch reformer tasked with improving China’s fiscal system and dealing with trillions of dollars of local governments’ off-balance-sheet borrowing known as hidden debt.