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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| China finance minister steps down | China finance minister steps down |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| The Chinese Finance Minister, Jin Renqing, has resigned for personal reasons, the government has announced. | The Chinese Finance Minister, Jin Renqing, has resigned for personal reasons, the government has announced. |
| Mr Jin, 63, will be transferred to a Communist Party think-tank where he will be deputy chief, a government statement said. | Mr Jin, 63, will be transferred to a Communist Party think-tank where he will be deputy chief, a government statement said. |
| His resignation is not believed to be linked to his job performance as China's economy is doing well, correspondents say. | His resignation is not believed to be linked to his job performance as China's economy is doing well, correspondents say. |
| However, Hong Kong media have been speculating about his private life. | However, Hong Kong media have been speculating about his private life. |
| Newspapers have linked the former finance minister with a sex scandal involving a disgraced party official. | |
| If that is behind the resignation, it will come as a blow to the Communist Party, which is just weeks away from the National Congress - the most important political meeting in five years, reports the BBC's Michael Bristow in Beijing. | |
| "Due to personal reasons, comrade Jin Renqing has tendered his resignation and the central government has accepted his request," a State Council official said. | "Due to personal reasons, comrade Jin Renqing has tendered his resignation and the central government has accepted his request," a State Council official said. |
| His appointment to the State Council's Development Research Centre had already been approved, the official told French news agency AFP. | |
| There has been no formal announcement yet as to his successor. | There has been no formal announcement yet as to his successor. |
| Since Jin Renqing took over as finance minister four years ago, China's economy has been in good shape, our correspondent says. | |
| Tax revenues are up, as is the trade surplus and the country has amassed the world's largest foreign currency reserves. | Tax revenues are up, as is the trade surplus and the country has amassed the world's largest foreign currency reserves. |
| And although China is experiencing its highest level of inflation in 10 years, analysts say the resignation has nothing to do with the economy. | And although China is experiencing its highest level of inflation in 10 years, analysts say the resignation has nothing to do with the economy. |
| "Everything I have been told suggests that it's for non-policy reasons," Stephen Green, senior economist at Standard Chartered bank in Shanghai, told the BBC. | "Everything I have been told suggests that it's for non-policy reasons," Stephen Green, senior economist at Standard Chartered bank in Shanghai, told the BBC. |