China’s top financial officials have snubbed annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Tokyo amid wrangling between China and Japan over a group of islands in the East China Sea.
Zhou Xiaochuan, China’s central bank governor, and Xie Xuren, the finance minister, pulled out of the meetings at the last minute, ostensibly because of “scheduling problems,” and will send deputies instead.
Yesterday’s news came after China’s four largest banks also pulled out of the meetings last week, with state media reporting that their decision was due to the dispute over the islands, which Japan calls Senkaku and China calls Diaoyu.