CHINA

Central Bank Has New Chief: Vice Premier Zhu Rongji, China’s top economic reformer, was replaced by Dai Xianglong, the bank’s vice governor. The change, which was expected, is not anticipated as a harbinger of significant changes in monetary policy. Zhu brought Dai with him when he was appointed to the post. Dai reportedly had been managing the bank’s day-to-day affairs as Zhu concentrated on broader economic reforms. When Zhu took over as bank governor in July, 1993, easy credit was fueling real estate and stock market speculation and double-digit inflation. Zhu is credited with engineering an austerity plan that helped dampen inflation.