Chinese relations with the Bank have been cool since the resignation of deputy managing director Shengman Zhang, reportedly due to disputes with then-president Paul Wolfowitz (see Update 51). After China’s first contribution to the International Development Association (see Update 59), relations appear to be on the mend. Lin Yifu, or Justin Lin, is expected to be appointed as the Bank’s chief economist, after the post had lain vacant for nearly four months. Lin is head of the China Centre for Economic Research at Beijing University and an adviser to the central government. Lin was born in Taiwan, but defected to China in 1979, reportedly swimming to the Chinese coast from his post as a soldier. Lin holds a master’s degree in marxist political economy from the Beijing University and a PhD in economics from the neoliberal University of Chicago.