Liu He

Liu He (; born 25 January 1952) is a Chinese economist and retired politician who served as a vice premier of China from 2018 to 2023. Additionally, he served as the director of the Office of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2013 to 2023, the director of the Financial Stability and Development Committee from 2017 to 2023, as well as a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party from 2017 to 2022.

Liu studied industrial economics in the Renmin University of China in the 1980s, he worked in various jobs in the State Council Development Research Center, the State Planning Commission, the State Information Center, and the State Council Information Office between 1986 and 2003, being responsible for economic affairs. He was a deputy director of the Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs between 2003 and 2011, and deputy director of the Development Research Center between 2011 and 2013; during this time, he was an influential advisor to CCP general secretary Hu Jintao on economic affairs.

Liu became a member of the CCP Central Committee in 2013, when he became a deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, as well as the director of the Office of the Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs. During this period, he advised CCP general secretary Xi Jinping on economic affairs, and was considered a primary architect of Xi's economic policies. He was promoted to the Politburo in 2017 and became a vice premier in 2018, where he continued to take on economic policies and also became the top trade negotiator with the United States due to the China–United States trade war. Liu retired from the Politburo in 2022, and stepped down from vice premiership in 2023.

Early life and education Born in Beijing on 25 January 1952, Liu attended Beijing 101 Middle School for middle and high school; some foreign and Chinese media have mistakenly reported that Liu attended the same middle school with Xi Jinping, though Xi attended the Bayi School and Beijing No. 25 School. Nevertheless, they still likely grew close ties as they grew up in the same neighborhood.

Liu was sent down to Taonan, Jilin during the Cultural Revolution, where he worked in an agricultural commune. He received a Master of Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School in 1995. Liu was also a founder of the Chinese Economists 50 Forum.

Liu briefly worked as a researcher in the Development Research Center of the State Council between 1986 and 1987. He was the chief drafter of the communiqué at the Third Plenum of the 18th National CCP Congress, which promised to give "market forces" a "decisive" role in allocating resources. In March 2018, Liu He was appointed as a vice premier in charge of finance and economic structural reforms in Li Keqiang Government.

As vice premier, Liu has significantly contributed to Xi's key economic concepts such as "economic new normal" and "supply-side reform".

Liu is generally considered to hold economically liberal views.

He has been one of the key officials in the crackdown on Ant Group. He also retired as the director of the Office of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission by October 2023, where Vice Premier He Lifeng took over the position. Nevertheless, he was reported to still be influential after his retirement, still attending meetings on economic affairs, and being asked to give input on dealing with the US on trade and economic issues, as well as on domestic economic policies.

Family Liu is married. His son Liu Tianran, is the founder of Tianyi Ziteng Asset Management (alternatively known as Skycus Capital) and served as its chairman until April 2017. In April 2025, the Financial Times reported that Liu Tianran was put under investigation over suspected financial-related corruption.