Recently, there has been a turmoil among the senior officials of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), with Deputy Director Zhou Liang being taken down, Director Li Yunze having his information removed from the official website and rumored to be demoted or dismissed, and the former Chairman of the Shanghai Insurance Exchange, Ren Chunsheng, sentenced to 12 years in prison. A week before Zhou Liang was taken down, his former colleague and former Vice Chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, Wang Zhaoxing, passed away at the age of 67.
On April 30, 2026, the Beijing Second Intermediate People’s Court sentenced Ren Chunsheng, former Party Secretary and Chairman of the Shanghai Insurance Exchange, on bribery charges, sentencing him to twelve years in prison and imposing a fine of 1.5 million RMB.
According to public resumes, Ren Chunsheng had previously served as Deputy Director of the former Dalian Insurance Regulatory Bureau, Director of the Finance and Accounting Department of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, Director of the Insurance Fund Utilization Supervision Department of the CBIRC after the 2018 institutional reform of the Chinese Communist Party, and as Party Secretary and Chairman of China Insurance Investment Co., Ltd. in 2019. He assumed the positions of Party Secretary and Chairman of the Shanghai Insurance Exchange in July 2021, but went missing after stepping down from his duties in April 2024.
On May 7, 2024, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission reported that Ren Chunsheng, the head of the Complaints and Mediation Preparatory Group of the CBIRC, was under investigation. He was later expelled from the Party in March 2025.
Established in November 2015 and officially opened on June 12, 2016, the Shanghai Insurance Exchange is directly managed by the CBIRC according to its official website.
Before his sentencing, Ren Chunsheng had worked for a long time in the CBIRC and its subordinates, such as China Insurance Investment Co., Ltd., and the Shanghai Insurance Exchange. The downfall of Li Yunze, Director of the CBIRC, and the fall of Zhou Liang, Deputy Director, occurred around the same time.
A report by the Hong Kong Ming Pao on April 29, 2026, indicated that Li Yunze had been dismissed on April 28. Reuters cited sources saying that Li Yunze was demoted due to suspected disciplinary issues.
Official announcements from the Chinese Communist Party did not disclose Li Yunze’s job changes, but on the CBIRC’s official website, the “Leadership of the Bureau” section no longer shows information about the Director, only listing the three current Deputy Directors and the head of the discipline inspection and supervision group.
Public records show that Li Yunze, born in September 1970 in Yantai, Shandong Province, had worked in various positions since 1993, starting at the Tianjin Branch of the China Construction Bank. He held roles such as Deputy General Manager of the Planning and Finance Department, General Manager of Strategic Planning and Equity Investment Department, and Party Secretary and Branch Manager of the Chongqing Branch of the China Construction Bank. He also served as Deputy Governor of Sichuan starting in September 2018 before becoming the Party Secretary and Director of the CBIRC in May 2023.
There have been rumors circulating on overseas social media suggesting that Li Yunze’s handling might be related to the recent crackdown on the faction associated with Wang Qishan. Wang Qishan served as President of the China Construction Bank from 1994 to 1997.
One month earlier on March 24, 2026, Li Yunze’s deputy, Zhou Liang, Deputy Director of the CBIRC, was taken down from his position. Zhou Liang had long served as the secretary of former Political Bureau Standing Committee member and Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Wang Qishan, for 20 years.
Zhou Liang, born in October 1971 in Yongzhou, Hunan Province, had been following Wang Qishan since 1997 when Wang held various positions in Guangdong Province, the State Council’s Office of Reform, Hainan Province, Beijing Municipality, the State Council, and the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. During Wang Qishan’s tenure as Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Zhou Liang served as Deputy Secretary for Discipline Inspection from 2013, Executive Deputy Minister of the Organization Department from April 2015, appointed as Minister in September, and later became the Minister, taking charge of personnel matters.
In November 2017, Zhou Liang became Vice Chairman and Party Committee Member of the Banking Regulatory Commission. In March 2018, he became Vice Chairman and Party Committee Member of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, also serving as Vice Chairman of the China Financial Association in August of the same year. In May 2023, he was appointed as a Party Committee Member and Deputy Director of the CBIRC.
Zhou Liang had been Li Yunze’s deputy for nearly two years and had worked with Ren Chunsheng at the Banking Regulatory Commission and the CBIRC for almost six years.
Furthermore, several other officials from the CBIRC have also been investigated. Liu Wei, former Chief Inspector of the Restoration and Disposal Bureau of the CBIRC, was investigated on June 27, 2025, and expelled from the Party on March 13, 2026. Gao Cui, former Party Secretary and Director of the Liaoning Insurance Regulatory Bureau, was investigated on April 10, 2026. Wang Zeping, former Party Secretary and Director of the Sichuan Banking Regulatory Bureau, was expelled from the Party on January 16, 2026. Sun Jianning, a Chief Inspector of the Shandong Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau, was expelled from the Party on January 9, 2026.
Amidst the senior management shakeup at the CBIRC, Xinhua News Agency reported on April 27, 2026, that Wang Zhaoxing, former Vice Chairman and Party Committee Member of the Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, passed away in Beijing on March 17, 2026, at the age of 67.
According to public records, Wang Zhaoxing, born in February 1959 in Yushu, Jilin Province, had held various roles at the People’s Bank of China and the China Banking Regulatory Commission. From November 2017 to September 2019, he worked alongside Zhou Liang for nearly two years. The timing of Wang Zhaoxing’s death was sensitive, occurring a week before Zhou Liang’s official announcement of being taken down.