Best of the financial columnists

Xi cracks down on his central bank

Lingling Wei

The Wall Street Journal

The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has never been politically independent, says Lingling Wei. Top-level state approval is needed before making big decisions – on interest rates, for example. Nevertheless, it has enjoyed a “special status” and has worked “for years to establish credibility among investors, at home and abroad”. Now, as Chinese president Xi Jinping tries “to curb capitalist forces” and his “discipline inspectors” seek to ascertain whether regulators