Lin Jianhai () is a Chinese economist and first-ever Secretary of the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...

from China. He was appointed to this position in March 2012. During his IMF career (beginning in 1989), Lin worked across a wide range of country, policy, and administrative issues, including serving senior positions in the Secretary's, Finance, Policy Development and Review, and Asian and Pacific Departments. He currently manages the Secretary’s Department which is the operations arm of the Executive Board. As the Secretary of the IMF, Lin oversees the Secretary's Department that has operational responsibility for the 24-member Executive Board, and serves as the official contact point of the IMF's 189 member countries on institutional matters, including work of the Board of Governors and the policy-guiding International Monetary and Financial Committee. The Secretary's Department also organizes the Spring and Annual Meetings, and is the creator and custodian of the IMF's official record. In February 2020, it was announced the Lin would be retiring from the Fund. Current IMF Managing Director (as of August 2020)

Kristalina Georgieva Kristalina Ivanova Georgieva-Kinova ( bg, Кристалина Иванова Георгиева-Кинова; ; born 13 August 1953) is a Bulgarian economist serving as managing director of the International Monetary Fund since 2019. She was t ...

stated that "Jianhai has played a critical role at the IMF... ndwill leave a legacy of outstanding service to our membership... eis a key driving force behind the Meetings having become the place every policy maker wants to be to discuss the critical economic and financial issues of the day". Lin officially stepped back from his responsibilities at the end of April in preparation for his retirement at the end of August.

Early life and education

Lin was born in Panshi, China, near the city of

Wenzhou Wenzhou (pronounced ; Wenzhounese: Yuziou �y33–11 tɕiɤu33–32 ), historically known as Wenchow is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Zhejiang province in the People's Republic of China. Wenzhou is located at the extreme south east ...

in the Zhejiang Province. Lin studied at the

University of International Business and Economics (Beijing) The University of International Business and Economics (UIBE; abbr. 贸大, ''Mào Dà''), is a public research university specialized in undergraduate and graduate education in economics, finance, international business, management, business, ...

in Beijing, China, and at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. He earned his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

in international finance from the

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Chartered in 1821 by the United States Congress, GWU is the largest Higher educat ...

. Before joining the Fund, he worked in the financial sector and academia.

References

20th-century Chinese economists Living people Beijing University of International Business and Economics alumni George Washington University School of Business alumni 1955 births People from Wenzhou Economists from Zhejiang {{china-economist-stub