Former chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, Yi Huiman, was officially announced to have been expelled from the Communist Party of China and dismissed from public office on April 30th for alleged involvement in power-for-sex and money-for-sex transactions, illegal acceptance of huge sums of money, and actions contradicting the Party’s directives.
According to Chinese state media reports, Yi Huiman, a member of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and former deputy director of the Economic Committee of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, has been placed under investigation, expelled from the Party, and removed from his public position, with his case being transferred for prosecution.
The official notice stated that Yi Huiman “contravened and evaded the central decisions and arrangements regarding the capital market, shirked responsibilities,” “sought benefits for others and accepted money in the process of cadre selection and appointment,” “allowed and acquiesced in relatives using his authority for private gain,” “used his authority or influence to benefit relatives,” and was involved in “power-for-sex and money-for-sex transactions.” Additionally, he leveraged his position to benefit others in promotion, IPO approvals, financing, and loans, while unlawfully accepting substantial sums of money, among other allegations.
Born in 1964, Yi Huiman had worked at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China for 35 years before assuming the role of chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission in 2019, attaining the rank of a ministerial-level official. In February 2024, Yi Huiman was suddenly relieved of his duties as chairman of the commission amidst a significant downturn in the Chinese stock market, with the Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 Index hitting a five-year low, leading to institutional and individual investors triggering stop-losses. The reasons for Yi Huiman’s dismissal were not officially disclosed at that time.
In June 2024, Yi Huiman transitioned to a secondary role at the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, becoming a member of the 14th National Committee and deputy director of the Economic Committee until his downfall in September last year.
Reports suggest that several of Yi Huiman’s relatives have also been taken in for investigation, indicating a potential case of familial corruption. However, there are also indications that the case may involve issues of corruption within the China Industrial and Commercial Bank system where Yi had worked for an extended period before his tenure at the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
Ding Wei, former chairman of China Gold Capital, was previously under investigation in connection with a significant private equity investment project, with Yi Huiman’s son, Yi Chenyang, who worked at China Gold, also implicated in the case.
Several mainland public accounts have revealed that Yi Huiman’s probe was not a sudden occurrence but was brought to light by Zhu Congjiu, the former deputy governor of Zhejiang who narrowly escaped a death sentence. Zhu was a high-ranking official at the Communist Party’s Securities Regulatory Commission and served as the general manager of the Shanghai Stock Exchange before assuming a senior position in Zhejiang overseeing finance for a decade. In November 2024, Zhu was sentenced to life imprisonment for illegal acceptance of bribes exceeding 105 million Chinese yuan.
According to the revelations, Zhu’s case initially appeared to be a typical scenario of “bribes exceeding a hundred million, potentially facing the death penalty,” but he managed to secure a “life imprisonment” sentence through making significant revelations. This led to a domino effect with numerous branch managers of six major banks in Zhejiang being investigated one after another; dozens of platform funds and private equity securities firms being implicated, and a situation where senior executives at China Gold Capital went “unreachable.”