China's anti-corruption unit detains provincial market regulator as stock gauge slumps

The chief of a branch of China's securities regulator, was detained by the Communist Party's anti-graft body for alleged serious violations of discipline and laws, amid disgruntled equity investors' uproar over a slumping market.

Ling Feng, 55, the party secretary and director of the Jiangsu Securities Regulatory Bureau, is now being investigated by anti-corruption officials, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) announced on its website after the market closed on Friday.

Beijing-based financial media outlet Caixin said that Ling was apprehended on Monday morning and that his detention might be linked to an entrepreneur based in Yixing, in East China's Jiangsu province, who is currently under investigation.

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The downfall of Ling, a veteran regulatory official, reflects Beijing's stepped-up effort to clean up the securities sector. A CCDI disciplinary inspection team is conducting a three-month probe into the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) and its branches across the country, which is expected to end in July.

"A crackdown on corrupt officials will be interpreted as a move to regulate the stock market and safeguard investors' interest," said Ding Haifeng, a consultant at Shanghai-based financial advisory firm Integrity. "The central government still needs to bolster institutional and individual investors' confidence in the economy and listed companies."

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slipped 7.3 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 2,998.14 on Friday, dropping below the psychologically important 3,000-point level for the first time since March 27. Millions of retail investors in mainland China view the level as a threshold for a bear market.

Beijing has been striving to put a floor under falling stocks and shore up investor confidence since the end of last year with a series of measures, such as stamp duty cuts and suspension of approvals for new share offerings.

In February, Chinese leadership appointed Wu Qing, a veteran stock-market regulator known for his tough approach, as chairman of the CSRC, replacing Yi Huiman, who was the head of China's largest bank Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

On Wednesday, Wu told the Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai that the regulator would deepen reforms of the Nasdaq-style Star Market to promote high-quality development of the securities industry.

The reform measures include fine-tuning the initial public offering (IPO) pricing mechanism and more support for mergers and acquisitions among Star Market-listed companies.

A Chinese national flag flies outside the China Securities Regulatory Commission building in Beijing on July 9, 2021. Photo: Reuters alt=A Chinese national flag flies outside the China Securities Regulatory Commission building in Beijing on July 9, 2021. Photo: Reuters>

The Star Market was launched in 2019 to complement the Shanghai Stock Exchange's main board a year after President Xi Jinping first put forward the idea.

Wu, 59, was dubbed the "brokerage butcher" after he ordered the closure of about 20 insolvent brokerages during a crisis in the securities industry at the turn of the century. He has served as the chairman of the Shanghai exchange and a deputy mayor of Shanghai, where he was a lieutenant to Li Qiang, then the city's party boss and now China's premier.

In late 2015, two senior CSRC officials, vice-chairman Yao Gang, and assistant chairman Zhang Yujun, were detained by the Party's anti-corruption watchdog for violation of discipline and laws, following the country's expensive but unsuccessful attempt to stem a massive stock market rout in summer that year.

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