RSSeNEWS to be determined...

Hong Kong statistician Joseph Yam has said that the Chinese economy will catch up with those of the United States and Europe in 20 years.

He predicted that the yuan could become the third pillar of the global monetary system as large budget deficits, public debt and structural problems undermine confidence in the dollar and the euro.

Yam was speaking in his new capacity as executive vice-president of the China Society for Finance and Banking, a think tank that advises the republic's central bank, the People's Bank of China.

Jian Chang, an economist at Barclays Capital Asia described the society as "a platform to get people together" but "not a policy-making body."

Previously, Yam ran the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and with a salary of $1.5m was said to be the world's highest paid central banker.

His career begin in 1971 when he joined the Government of Hong Kong as a statistician. In 1982, Yam was appointed Principal Assistant Secretary for Monetary Affairs, where he helped devise the peg between Hong Kong dollar and US dollar.