Hong Kong/Beijing/Seoul | China’s new central bank head, Pan Gongsheng, is set to take the helm at a critical moment for the world’s second-largest economy as it fights to reset a post-COVID recovery that looks increasingly unsteady despite relinquishing some of its powers in a regulatory shake-up.

Not only has the People’s Bank of China’s authority been weakened, with some supervisory functions hived off to another regulator, but China’s economy is also suffering from weak investor confidence that many experts believe cannot easily be remedied by monetary policy.