(Bloomberg) -- Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng has been confirmed as the top official overseeing economic and financial policy as well as trade talks with the US and Europe, according to a series of announcements.

He — a close confidante of President Xi Jinping — was described as the office director of the Central Financial Commission, which is responsible for the top-level policy making and supervision of the country’s vast financial sector, according to a report by Financial News, a central bank-managed publication.

He was also named party Communist Party secretary of the Central Financial Work Commission, overseeing the ideological and political role of the party in the financial system. 

The vice premier was called the “leader of China-US economic and trade affairs” by China’s foreign ministry as it confirmed he would travel to the US from Wednesday to Sunday. State media in September used the same phrase to describe him as the head of China-EU trade and economic talks.

Last month, He was revealed to be heading the office of the Communist Party’s top economic policy-making body, taking over from Liu He, a former vice premier seen as the country’s economic czar. Liu stepped down from his government post earlier this year after reaching the customary retirement age for senior officials.

He’s trip to the US will include two days of talks with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, according to Washington. The trip is seen as one to help normalize ties ahead of a long-anticipated meeting between Xi and US President Joe Biden.

The leadership of the two party financial governing bodies has been a subject of speculation since they were set up in a reorganization in March, part of a move to give the Communist Party direct control and supervision over financial affairs. 

He has known Xi for decades and has been tasked with overseeing all financial regulators — including a recently created government financial watchdog — as well as the housing ministry, Bloomberg reported previously.

He made the closing speech at the Communist party’s twice-a-decade policy meeting, known as the Central Financial Work Conference, last week. Officials at the meeting vowed to set up a long-term mechanism to resolve debt risks tied to local authorities and signaled willingness to expand central government borrowing.

Liu was also formerly the head of the economic policy body and director of the Financial Stability and Development Committee under the State Council, which has been abolished and absorbed by the party-led Central Financial Commission. That’s part of a general shift in economic policy making away from the government and toward Communist party bodies.

With the transition from Liu to He, China’s financial sector policies may also see a shift in focus with Beijing’s recent unconventional fiscal stimulus to support the economy, according to analysts. 

“Liu He was obsessed with addressing risks in the financial sector, which led the government to take a restrained approach to economic support,” Trivium China analysts wrote in a note last week. “With Liu’s influence waning, it’s more likely that the government will step in with more aggressive stimulus measures.”

--With assistance from Tom Hancock.

(Updates with further titles and context.)

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