American mother and Chinese father, has a degree from Yale University, worked at the New York Fed and now works in Beijing, for the Fitch rating agency. Charlene Chu adds to an impressive resume a reputation as a Chinese finance guru – and some of her call her the industry's rock star.
When Federal Reserve economists in Washington want to understand more about China's financial system, they read Charlene's reports, and American dignitaries visiting Beijing don't fail to arrange a breakfast with the famous analyst. Famous for being the first to denounce the dangers of shadow banking in China and to urge the Chinese central bank to include that sector in credit statistics (the bank has done so, but Chu is not satisfied – says there are still gaps ). When Tim Geithner - former president of the New York Fed and former US Treasury Secretary - said, in the aftermath of the outbreak of the great financial crisis (later resulting in the Great Recession) that in America the shadow banking system had now assumed dimensions greater than those of the official banking system, many wondered: didn't he realize this too late? Hopefully, China has learned its lesson and now Chinese monetary policy is trying, but with still crude tools, to stem the "shadow" that has brought the private debt-to-GDP ratio over 200%.
Charlene Chu is not optimistic about China: she says that at worst there will be a serious financial crisis, and at best a prolonged slowdown from debt relief.
