Recently the Director of the National Financial Supervision and Management Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party (referred to as the Bureau of Financial Supervision) Li Yunze was suddenly removed from office at the end of April. On the 29th, the Bureau of Financial Supervision announced that Ding Xiangqun, the Party Secretary and Chairman of the China People’s Insurance Group, will take over as the Party Secretary of the National Bureau of Financial Supervision, implying that she will also become the director. Li Yunze was rumored to have been demoted due to his son being involved in a fatal drunk driving accident, but there are also suggestions that it is related to high-level power struggles.
According to reports from mainland media such as The Paper and Caixin, the Chinese Communist Party’s Bureau of Financial Supervision held a leadership meeting yesterday (May 29th) and announced Ding Xiangqun as the Party Secretary of the Bureau of Financial Supervision. Traditionally, Ding Xiangqun is also expected to serve as the director of the Bureau of Financial Supervision.
Public records show that Ding Xiangqun, born in June 1965 in Huai’an, Jiangsu Province, graduated from the Department of Planning and Economics at Renmin University of China, and has had a long career in the financial system. She has held positions such as the Branch President of the Bank of China in Ningbo, General Manager of the Human Resources Department of the Headquarters, Chief Financial Officer of the financial business, Deputy General Manager of China Pacific Insurance Group Co., Ltd. in 2013, Vice President of China Development Bank in 2015; she was transferred to serve as the Vice Chairman of the Guangxi Autonomous Region in 2017, and in September of the following year transferred to become a member of the Standing Committee of the Anhui Provincial Committee and Minister of the Organization Department. At the Third Plenary Session of the Twentieth Central Committee, she was made a member of the Central Committee and took over the position of head of China People’s Insurance in October 2024.
Previously, Li Yunze, who served as the Party Secretary and Director of the Bureau of Financial Supervision, took office in May 2023, becoming the first director of the bureau. Li Yunze, born in September 1970, is five years younger than Ding Xiangqun.
On April 29, Reuters reported, citing insider sources, that Li Yunze was demoted for suspected disciplinary violations. The Chinese Communist Party did not publicly announce Li Yunze’s situation, but on April 29, it was noticed that Li Yunze’s name was missing from the “Leadership of the Bureau” section on the official website of the Bureau of Financial Supervision.
Hong Kong’s Ming Pao reported on April 30 that Li Yunze was removed from his position on April 28, with rumors circulating that he was demoted to the rank of deputy inspector (sub-bureau level non-leadership position). The media also reported on May 30 that Li Yunze was demoted for allegedly being involved in his son’s incident of driving under the influence to cover up an accident, which was considered a serious violation of discipline.
Independent commentator Cai Shenkun posted on Platform X on April 30 that Li Yunze’s career downfall is somewhat similar to the involvement in a incident with his son initially. His son was involved in a drunk driving incident (rumored to involve drug driving) that resulted in a fatality in Chengdu. In order to cover up the incident, Li Yunze’s wife sought help from Ye Hanbing, a Deputy Governor of Sichuan Province and Director of the Public Security Department. Ye Hanbing got into trouble and exposed the white gloves behind Li Yunze, as well as brought up a lot of issues related to bribery and benefit conveyance involving Li Yunze’s wife. Ye Hanbing, Deputy Governor of Sichuan Province, Director of the Public Security Department, and Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, was dismissed from office in May last year.
There are different opinions on the reasons why Li Yunze got into trouble. Some believe that Li Yunze was removed because he was involved in an internal power struggle between Xi Jinping and Wang Qishan.
Former Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan wields significant influence in the financial sector. In recent years, many of Wang’s confidants and subordinates have fallen from grace, including several high-ranking officials in the financial system. Among them, Dong Hong, a former Deputy Director of the Central Inspection Commission, was sentenced to death for accepting bribes in 2022; Tian Huiyu, Wang Qishan’s secretary when he was in charge of Construction Bank, and former President of China Merchants Bank, was sentenced to death in 2022; on October 10, 2024, Fan Yifei, former Deputy Governor of the People’s Bank of China, was sentenced to death. Fan Yifei was the financial chief in charge during Wang Qishan’s tenure as President of Construction Bank.
Li Yunze, originally from Yantai, Shandong Province, joined China Construction Bank in 1993 when Wang Qishan was in charge of the bank.
Li Yunze worked at China Construction Bank for over 20 years, holding positions including Deputy Branch President of the Tianjin Branch, General Manager of the Planning and Financial Department of the Headquarters, and President of the Chongqing Branch. In 2016, she was transferred to ICBC as Vice President, in 2018 she became Deputy Governor of Sichuan, and later served as a member of the Standing Committee and Executive Vice Governor of the Provincial Party Committee, and was a candidate member of the Twentieth Central Committee. In 2023, when the Bureau of Financial Supervision was established in Beijing, Li Yunze served as the first director of the bureau. She was the first “post-70s” senior official in the Chinese Communist Party and had a promising future.
In late March of this year, Deputy Director of the Bureau of Financial Supervision Zhou Liang was officially dismissed. Zhou Liang had long served as Wang Qishan’s secretary and had also held positions such as Department Head of the Organization Department of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and Vice Chairman of the Chinese Banking Regulatory Commission.