Budapest Renminbi Initiative Conference 2026

Mihály Varga

Magyar Nemzeti Bank

Governor

Born in Karcag in 1965, he earned his secondary school diploma in Áron Gábor Secondary School in 1983, and he went on to graduate from the Budapest University of Economic Sciences in 1989.

He worked as an economist at the No. 43 State Construction Corporation in Budapest, and in 1990 at the Eastern-Hungarian Water Management and Planning Enterprise in Szolnok. Between 1995 and 1997, he was a visiting instructor at the Szolnok Economic College, and an honorary college professor.

Between 1998 and 2001, he served as Minister of State for Policy at the Ministry of Finance, and from 2001 to 2002, he held the position of Minister of Finance. Between 2010 and 2012 he was Minister of State, Head of the Prime Minister’s Office, and then he became Minister without Portfolio responsible for the relations with some international financial organisations. From March 2013 to 2018 he was Minister of National Economy. From March 2017 to 2022 he was President of the National Competitiveness Council. Between 2018 and 2024 he served as Minister of Finance. Since 4 March 2025, he has been the Governor of the Magyar Nemzeti Bank.

From 1990 to February, 2025 he was member of Parliament in representation of Fidesz. He was an elected member of Parliament for the 8th constituency of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County between 1998 and 2014, then he was the elected member of Parliament in an individual electoral district for the Budapest 4th constituency between 2014 and 2022. Between 1994 and 2003 and from 2005 to 2013, he was one of the vice presidents of Fidesz.

Roles in public life: Since 1997, the vice-president of the Hungarian-Kazakh Friendship. From 2000, member of the Chivalric Order of St John. From 2001 to 2011, presbyter of the Reformed Church congregation in Karcag, and a member of the Rákóczi Association. From 2003 to 2015, Chair of the Nagykun Civil Association. Member of the Hungarian Athletic Club. From 2012 to 2025, co-president of the Joint Venture Association, the Hungarian-Kazakh Intergovernmental Committee for Economic Cooperation and the Hungarian-Korean Joint Economic Committee. From 2013 to 2025, the president of the Board of Trustees of the Annamária Szalay Media Foundation. From 2021 to 2023, the president of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation for Rudolf Kalman University. From 2021 to 2025, the president of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation for Civic Education.

H.E. Tao Gong

Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Hungary

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary

Gong Tao is a senior Chinese diplomat with more than three decades of experience in international relations and foreign affairs. Born in October 1970 in Xiaogan, Hubei Province, he holds a master’s degree in economics and began his diplomatic career in 1992 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China.

Throughout his career, he has held a variety of positions within the Ministry and at Chinese diplomatic missions abroad, developing extensive expertise in European, Latin American and African affairs. He served at the Chinese Embassy in Portugal on several occasions, worked as Counselor at the Chinese Embassy in Brazil, and later became Deputy Director-General of the European Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 2018 to 2023, Gong Tao served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to the Republic of Angola. In 2023, he was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to Hungary, bringing extensive diplomatic and international experience to his current position.

Wenjian Yu

People's Bank of China, Shanghai Head Office

President

Mr. Yu Wenjian holds a Ph.D. in Economics and is a Senior Research Fellow. He is now President of the People's Bank of China Shanghai Head Office and Director-General of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange Shanghai Branch. He has long been engaged in economic and financial work, and his research covers monetary policy, financial supervision, financial markets, international financial centers, inclusive finance, financial consumer protection, etc.

Wenwen Liu

Shanghai Headquarters, China Central Depository Company

Head of the Research Department

Ms. Wenwen Liu serves as the Head of the Research and Development Department at the Shanghai Headquarters of China Central Depository & Clearing Co., Ltd. (CCDC), the central securities depository of China's bond market.

Ms. Liu's research focuses on the opening-up of China's bond market and the development of financial market infrastructure, among other areas, in which she has accumulated extensive expertise. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Fudan University.

Jiandong Liu

Bank of China (Europe) S.A.

Chairman of the Board of Directors

Mr. Liu Jiandong joined Bank of China Group in 1991, and has accumulated over three decades of professional knowledge and management experience, holding key positions in various fields ranging from corporate banking, investment banking, credit management, to risk management. At Bank of China Head Office, he served as the Group’s Chief Risk Officer from February 2019 to September 2024, as General Manager of Credit Management Department from March 2014 to February 2019, and as General Manager (Investment Banking) of the Corporate Banking Unit from February 2011 to March 2014. Prior to this, Mr. Liu also consecutively served as Deputy General Manager of the Bank’s Corporate Banking Department and Corporate Banking Unit.

Presently, in Luxembourg, Mr. Liu is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bank of China (Europe) S.A. and General Manager of Bank of China Limited Luxembourg Branch. He concurrently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bank of China (Central & Eastern Europe) Limited, Budapest. He is also the Chairman of the China Chamber of Commerce to the EU (CCCEU) promoting China-Europe relations and cooperation.

Mr. Liu graduated from Renmin University of China in 1991, and obtained a Master’s Degree in Economics from Renmin University of China in 2000.

Dr. Henry Huiyao Wang

Center for China and Globalization (CCG)

Founder and President

Dr. Henry Huiyao Wang is Founder and President of Center for China and Globalization (CCG), Former Counselor to China State Council(China's Cabinet); Director of Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs and China National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; a Standing Director of China Institute of International Economic Relations under PBOC(People's Bank of China); Distinguished Guest Professor at the China Foreign Affairs University; a Steering Committee Member of Paris Peace Forum(PPF); Member of Advisory Committee for Global Competence Development of Tsinghua University; an Advisory Board Member of Duke Kunshan University and Richard Ivey Business School.

Dr. Wang pursued his PhD studies at University of Western Ontario and University of Manchester. He was a Senior Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School and a Visiting Fellow of Brookings Institute. As a thought leader on globalization, global relations and global governance, he has published over 100 English and Chinese works, and he is also the chief editor of Springer Nature's China and Globalization Book Series. His latest book "China and Next Global Order-The Coming Multipolar World in the Era of Cooperation” has been downloaded nearly 40,000 times worldwide.

Zumin Shao

Financial Management Department of China Eastern Airlines

General Manager

Mr. Zumin Shao holds an MBA and is a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA). Mr. Shao is appointed as the General Manager of Financial Management Department of China Eastern Airlines. Mr. Shao joined China Eastern Airlines in 1994 and held positions across multiple departments within the company, accumulating extensive experience in financial management, corporate finance, investment, cross-border finance and settlement.

Ádám Banai

Magyar Nemzeti Bank

Executive Director and Chief Economist

Ádám Banai has received his MSc from Corvinus University of Budapest. He holds a PhD in Finance from Corvinus University of Budapest. He joined the Financial Stability department of The Central Bank of Hungary in 2008. From 2013 to 2017 he was the head of Applied Research and Stress-testing Department. From mid-2017 he was the director of Financial System Analysis directorate. From 2020 he was the executive director for Monetary Policy Instruments, Financial Stability and Foreign Reserve Management then he was also responsible for the bond purchasing program of the MNB. From early 2025, he is in his current position. He is responsible for monetary policy, for financial stability and macroprudential policy.

He is a member of the Financial Stability Board in Hungary. He is also a member of the supervisory board at KELER CCP. He is a member of the advisory board at ESCP Europe Institute of Real Estate Finance and Management and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. He is an industry fellow at Griffith University. His main research fields are macroprudential policy, monetary policy, sustainability in central banking and real estate markets. He has several papers, articles in high level journals. He is also the president of the General Assembly of Hungarian Canoe Federation.

Tibor Tóth

Budapest Stock Exchange

CEO

Mr. Tibor Tóth is the CEO of the Budapest Stock Exchange as of May 1, 2025.

From March to May 2025, he served as Chief Advisor to the Governor of the Central Bank of Hungary.

Between 2022 and 2024, he held the position of State Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, responsible for Macroeconomic and International Affairs. During this time, he also acted as Chairman of the National Council of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Alternate Governor of the World Bank Group, and as member of the Economic and Financial Committee (EFC).

He graduated from the University of Miskolc in 1996, where he obtained his degrees from the Faculty of Economics and from the College for Foreign Trade. After graduation, he began his career as a tax advisor and consecutively worked as a senior advisor at Arthur Andersen.

Mr. Tóth held senior positions for eight years at ABN Amro Bank and Citibank. Then moved to KDB Bank (Europe) Ltd. in 2005, where after serving in senior positions, he became Deputy CEO between 2013 and 2021.

Mr. Tóth is fluent in English.

Xuanyang Xie

CIPS Co., Ltd.

Vice President

Mr. Xuanyang Xie, Vice President of CIPS, holds a postgraduate degree and a Doctoral degree in Engineering. Prior to this role, he worked at several branches of the People's Bank of China, including Hefei, Fuyang, and Chaohu Branch. He was appointed Vice President of CIPS Co., Ltd. in August 2024.

Dániel Palotai

Magyar Nemzeti Bank

Deputy Governor

As from September 2025, Dániel Palotai is Deputy Governor of the Magyar Nemzeti Bank (MNB), in which capacity he is Member of the Monetary Council and he is also responsible for international relations. Between 2020 and 2025, he served in Washington DC on the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), representing the Central and Eastern European Constituency as Executive Director, and from November 2024 as Alternate Executive Director. From 2013 to 2020, he was Executive Director and Chief Economist of the MNB. From November 2010, he headed the Macroeconomic Policy Department of the Ministry for National Economy. Between 2007 and 2010 he served at the European Central Bank as an economist responsible for non-euro area EU member states. In 2015, he was awarded the Sándor Popovics Prize. He is an Honorary Associate Professor at Corvinus University of Budapest and Vice President of the Hungarian Economic Association (MKT).

Yang Yu

CMC Europe

Deputy General Manager

Ms. Yang Yu is Deputy General Manager of CMC Europe, overseeing business development and investment and financing. With extensive experience in European renewable energy markets, she has successfully advanced major solar and energy storage projects. She is committed to strengthening China-Europe cooperation in green energy and finance, supporting the global expansion of Chinese enterprises.

Wei Ding

China Construction Bank (Europe) S.A. Hungary Branch

Deputy General Manager

Ms. Wei Ding is currently the Deputy General Manager at China Construction Bank (Europe) S.A. Hungary Branch, responsible for Risk Management, Compliance and Administration. She assumed this position in October 2025. Prior to her current role, she served as the Deputy General Manager at China Construction Bank (Europe) S.A. Milan Branch from 2019 to 2025, where she was in charge of corporate and FI business. Earlier in her career, she spent over a decade in corporate banking division at the Suzhou Branch and the Suzhou Industrial Park Sub-branch, including a management role overseeing corporate business.

Ms. Ding joined CCB in 2002 and has over 20 years of experience in the financial sector. With a comprehensive understanding of banking operations across different markets, she focuses on facilitating cross-border financial cooperation and the internationalization of the RMB.

László Bencsik

OTP Bank Plc.

Chief Strategic and Financial Officer, Deputy CEO Strategy and Finance Division

In 1996, he graduated from the Faculty of Business Administration at the Budapest University of Economic Sciences, and in 1999 he obtained a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from INSEAD Business School in France.

Between 1996 and 2000 he worked as a consultant at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture). From 2000 to 2003 he was a project manager at consulting firm McKinsey & Company primarily working in the banking & insurance rectus.

He joined OTP Bank in 2003, when he became managing director with overall responsibility for management accounting, controlling and planning.

He has been deputy CEO of OTP Bank, and head of the Strategy and Finance Division, since August 2009. Since 05 May 2010 ha has been Deputy Chairman and 06 April 2012 he has been Chairman of the Supervisory Board of DSK Bank. Member of Board of Directors of World Savings and Retail Banking Institute-European Savings and Retail Banking Group (WSBI-ESBG) since November 2018.