( CNN ) -- China 's top banker has pulled out of the International Monetary Fund meetings in Tokyo Wednesday in a move widely seen as a protest for the ongoing dispute between Japan and China over islands in the East China Sea . Zhou Xiaochuan , the governor of the People 's Bank of China , was scheduled to give the Per Jacobsson lecture at the IMF-World Bank annual meetings being held this year through Sunday in Tokyo . A spokesperson for the IMF said they were told two days ago that Zhou 's schedule might require him to cancel his lecture in Tokyo . `` His deputy Yi Gang will represent him at the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings and will deliver his Per Jacobsson Lecture , '' the spokesperson said . Past speakers for the lecture have included U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan , Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and Mohamed A. El-Erian , CEO of PIMCO . Zhou 's decision not to attend follows news earlier this week that representatives from China 's four major banks -- the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China , Bank of China , China Construction Bank and Agricultural Bank of China -- would not be attending the IMF meetings in protest of the territorial dispute . Last month the Japanese government bought the disputed islands from the Japanese family that privately owned the islands for 2.05 billion yen ( US $ 26.2 million ) . That move brought already rising tensions to a boil in China , where often violent protests broke out in dozens of Chinese cities -- from Guangzhou in the south to Qingdao in the north . Japanese cars , stores and factories were damaged in many areas . Japan 's largest automakers said Tuesday that sales in China nosedived in September in the face of Japanese product boycotts . Toyota sales in China dropped 48.9 % compared to a year ago . Honda sales were down 40.5 % from 2011 , and Nissan reported a 35.3 % decline in sales . CNN 's Pamela Boykoff and CNNMoney 's Charles Riley contributed to this report .
China 's top banker has pulled out of the International Development Fund meetings in Tokyo . Zhou Yu , the governor of the People 's Bank of China , was scheduled to speak . Soon after representatives from China 's two top banks refused to attend the Japan meetings . Seen as a protest against Japanese ownership of an island chain that China also claims .