Former Vice Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, Fang Xinghai, was investigated on July 24, 2026. Fang Xinghai, a close associate of Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping from Shanghai, had recommended himself to Xi and was promoted. Fang Xinghai had worked alongside Yi Huiman, who had already been ousted, at the Securities Regulatory Commission for five years, and the two were also old friends from Wenzhou.
On the evening of July 24, 2026, at 8 p.m. Beijing time, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Chinese Communist Party and the National Supervisory Commission announced that Fang Xinghai, former Party Committee Member and Vice Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, was suspected of serious violations of discipline and law and was under investigation.
According to public reports, one month ago on June 24, 2026, Fang Xinghai, who was serving as Vice President of the China Financial Association, attended the Summer Davos Forum.
Publicly available information shows that Fang Xinghai, born in May 1964, is of Han ethnicity and is a native of Leqing, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University and a Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford University. Starting from August 1998, he successively held positions such as Office Director of the Coordinating Committee of China Construction Bank Group. In July 2001, he served as Assistant General Manager, Deputy General Manager, and Party Committee Member of the Shanghai Stock Exchange. In December 2005, he was appointed Deputy Director (official-level) of the Shanghai Financial Services Office, and in October 2007, he became Deputy Secretary of the Shanghai Financial Work Party Committee and Director of the Shanghai Financial Services Office. In September 2013, he served as an inspector in the Economic Group of the Office of the Central Finance and Economics Leading Group, and in June 2014, he became Director of Economic Division IV in the Office of the Central Finance and Economics Leading Group. In October 2015, he was appointed Vice Chairman and Party Committee Member of the China Securities Regulatory Commission and stepped down in July 2024.
When Fang Xinghai was appointed Vice Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the Pengpai News reported on October 30, 2015, that in 1981, when he entered Tsinghua University and joined the Department of Economics and Management, it was an important enlightening period in Fang Xinghai’s life. There, he met Zhu Rongji, who was then the Deputy Director-General of the State Planning Commission.
In Fang Xinghai’s book “Building the Shanghai International Financial Center: Analysis, Policy, and Practice,” it was recorded that, “Shortly after enrolling, I attended a lecture by Zhu Rongji in the Grand Hall, which was about the economic situation… At that time, I knew very little about the Chinese economy, but I found the lecture very exciting. For two hours, my attention did not stray at all, and even after the lecture ended, I hoped he would continue speaking a little longer.”
Later, Fang Xinghai took early seats to listen to Zhu Rongji talk about the economic situation twice more.
In 1984, Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management was established, and Zhu Rongji became the first dean.
Fang Xinghai recalled in his book the pledge made by Zhu Rongji at the founding meeting of the school: “Our Tsinghua School of Economics and Management must either not exist or must become a world-class institution.” Fang Xinghai described how he was instantly inspired at that time, and this sense of mission became one of his motivations to return home five years later.
In 1985, Fang Xinghai applied for the Zhou Zhi Zhuang Economics Study Abroad Program and was one of only two undergraduates in that cohort. Zhou Zhi Zhuang, known for his famous “Zhou test,” became a leading figure in economics and an honorary professor of political economy and economics at Princeton University.
In 1986, Fang Xinghai enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh in the United States; a year later, he received a scholarship to transfer to Stanford University to pursue a Ph.D. in Economics. His doctoral supervisor was Joseph Stiglitz, who later won the Nobel Prize in Economics and served as Chairman of the President’s Economic Advisory Committee in the United States. After graduating with his Ph.D. in 1993, Fang Xinghai began working at the World Bank.
According to Financial World, in 1998, Fang Xinghai received an email from Zhou Xiaochuan, who was then the President of the China Construction Bank, asking if he was willing to return to China. After several phone conversations, Fang Xinghai felt that many of their ideas were “in sync.” In August of that year, Fang Xinghai returned to China.
It was also mentioned in Fang Xinghai’s book that another consideration for returning to China was Zhu Rongji’s call. As recorded, during a meeting with foreign dignitaries in 1997, Zhu Rongji lamented, “Why haven’t my students come back!” Fang Xinghai responded by returning to China.
After the stock market turmoil in 2015, several senior executives of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, including Assistant Chairman Zhang Yujun, were investigated for alleged “insider trading.”
On October 21, 2015, Hong Kong’s Economic Daily reported that there were significant personnel changes at the China Securities Regulatory Commission on the evening of October 20, with Fang Xinghai set to replace the retiring Liu Xinhua as Vice Chairman in charge of international affairs.
According to an unnamed source, Fang Xinghai, then Director of the Shanghai Financial Office, submitted a letter to Xi Jinping during the 2013 National People’s Congress, expressing his willingness to contribute to the “development of the national financial industry.” Xi Jinping then forwarded this letter to the relevant department responsible for financial and economic affairs.
In May 2013, shortly after writing a self-recommendation letter to Xi Jinping, Fang Xinghai was transferred to the Economic Group of the Office of the Central Finance and Economics Leading Group, and in 2014, he became Director of Division IV of the International Economic Bureau. At that time, the head of the Office of the Central Finance and Economics Leading Group was Liu He, a close aide to Xi Jinping.
It is worth noting that Fang Xinghai is a former colleague of Xi Jinping; they worked together in Shanghai for a period of time. When Xi Jinping served as Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee from March to October 2007, Fang Xinghai was a member of the Shanghai Financial Work Committee and Deputy Director of the Shanghai Financial Services Office. When Xi Jinping moved to Beijing, he was promoted to Deputy Secretary of the Shanghai Financial Work Committee and Director of the Shanghai Financial Services Office in October 2007.
During the stock market turbulence in October 2015, Fang Xinghai was appointed Vice Chairman of the Securities Regulatory Commission. On January 21, 2016, at the Davos Forum in Switzerland, as a deputy ministerial-level official, Fang Xinghai publicly opposed the circuit breaker mechanism led by his superior, Xiao Gang, the Chairman of the Securities Regulatory Commission, and expressed views on sensitive issues such as the Chinese stock market, currency devaluation, and Chinese economic policies, attracting attention from the public.
Senior officials of the China Securities Regulatory Commission are seen as high-risk positions. Since the stock market crash in 2015, none of the three Chairmen have had a good ending.
Xiao Gang, who was appointed Chairman of the Securities Regulatory Commission and Party Committee Secretary in 2013, stepped down in January 2016 due to the impact of the 2015 stock market crash, less than three years into his tenure. Following the stock market crash, officials under Xiao Gang, such as Yao Gang, then Vice Chairman of the Securities Regulatory Commission, were dealt with.
Xiao Gang was succeeded by Liu Shiyu, who, after nearly three years in the position of Chairman of the Securities Regulatory Commission, was suddenly transferred to the China National Supply and Marketing Cooperative Council in January 2019. Liu Shiyu voluntarily surrendered to the authorities in May 2019 and was investigated. On October 4, 2019, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection placed Liu Shiyu on a two-year probation within the Party and the National Supervisory Commission demoted him to the level of primary investigator.
Yi Huiman succeeded Liu Shiyu as Chairman of the Securities Regulatory Commission in January 2019; however, he was removed from office in February 2024, which was believed to be connected to the ongoing turmoil in the Chinese stock market. On September 6, 2025, Yi Huiman was investigated while serving as Deputy Director of the Economic Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
Fang Xinghai served as Vice Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission for nearly nine years from October 2015 to July 2024, working alongside Xiao Gang, Liu Shiyu, and Yi Huiman. Fang Xinghai and Yi Huiman are also old acquaintances from Wenzhou. Yi Huiman hails from Cangnan County, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province.