China central bank chief Zhou Xiaochuan gets top post, way clear to stay on

BEIJING (REUTERS) - China's central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan was elected as a deputy chairman of Parliament's top advisory body on Monday, clearing the way for him to stay on as head of the People's Bank of China (PBOC) for the time being.

Mr Zhou's election to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference gives him "national-level leader" rank that exempts him from compulsory retirement at 65 for officials in Cabinet minister-ranked jobs.

Mr Zhou's future had been in question since he was left out of the elite 205-member Central Committee of the Communist Party during a once-in-a-decade handover of power last November. Until now, membership had been a condition of holding a ministerial-level job such as governorship of the People's Bank of China.

However, with the party's top leaders, Mr Xi Jinping and Mr Li Keqiang, apparently determined to deliver on promises to close a chasm between China's rich and poor, a way has been found to keep one of the driving forces behind a decade of financial reforms.