IMF announces departure of deputy managing director Bo Li, proposes China’s Min Liao as successor

Li will leave on November 30 at the end of his term; Liao, currently China’s Vice Minister of Finance, would take up the post on December 1

Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), announced on Wednesday that Deputy Managing Director Bo Li will leave the Washington-based lender on November 30, 2026, at the end of his term. She proposed Min Liao, currently Vice Minister of Finance of the People’s Republic of China, to succeed him, effective December 1, 2026.

Li joined the IMF’s senior management team in August 2021. “He has helped guide the Fund through some of the most turbulent years for the global economy,” Georgieva said, adding that he “leaves a lasting mark” on the institution.

Li’s tenure

As deputy managing director, Li was responsible for the IMF’s work on about 90 member countries, along with a wide range of policy issues. According to the IMF, he:

• led the launch of the Fund’s first Enterprise Risk Management policy and roadmap, and the modernisation of its data governance framework;
• guided work on digital money and cross-border payments, including work on stablecoin regulation;
• championed the Fund’s engagement with small developing states, supported debt restructurings under the Common Framework, and guided its agenda on governance and corruption; and
• more recently, spearheaded work on artificial intelligence, helping integrate it into surveillance, lending and capacity development.

The proposed successor

Describing Liao as a “highly respected policymaker” with more than three decades of experience in banking, financial regulation and macroeconomic governance, Georgieva said he has been deeply engaged in global macro-policy coordination and in bilateral and multilateral fiscal, financial and trade cooperation. She said his experience at the intersection of domestic reform and international economic cooperation would be “a tremendous asset” to the Fund and its members.

Liao has served as Vice Minister of Finance since May 2018. Until 2023, he was also Vice Minister of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission Office. He has been a member of the Monetary Policy Committee since 2023, and the IMF said he has expertise in coordinating fiscal and monetary policy. Before that, he was Director-General of the Bureau of International Economy at the Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs.

Liao began his career at the People’s Bank of China, China Everbright Group and Bank of China. He later served in the China Banking Regulatory Commission, including as Director-General of its General Office, and then as Director-General of the Shanghai Banking Regulatory Bureau. The IMF said he has also produced research on finance, banking supervision, macroeconomic policy and international financial governance.

Liao holds a master’s degree in economics from Peking University and an MBA from the University of Cambridge.