Recently, former chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) Yi Huiman was officially announced to have fallen from grace. Chinese media have revealed more details about the case, including the fact that Yi Huiman’s son continues to work at China International Capital Corporation (CICC) in Hong Kong.
On September 6th, it was officially reported that Yi Huiman is under investigation.
In recent days, the Financial “I Heard” of Caixin disclosed more related details about Yi Huiman’s downfall.
Yi Huiman was taken away for investigation around August 29th, and his brother in Wenzhou, Zhejiang was also taken away.
Having served in senior positions at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) for many years, Yi Huiman cultivated many loyal subordinates, among whom a key figure was Gu Jiangang, the former general manager of the ICBC’s Asset Management Department.
Gu Jiangang had a smooth sailing career at ICBC until the beginning of 2019 when Yi Huiman was transferred to the CSRC. After Yi Huiman’s move, Gu Jiangang’s situation at ICBC took a downturn, leading to multiple instances of power reduction, and he fell from grace in August 2023.
Since then, discussions about Yi Huiman have occasionally circulated internally and externally.
Public information shows that the 61-year-old Yi Huiman, hailing from Cangnan, Zhejiang, worked at the ICBC for 35 years before taking over as the Party Secretary and Chairman of the CSRC from Liu Shiyu in early 2019, elevating himself to the rank of a department-level official in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). After the 20th National Congress of the CCP, Yi Huiman became a member of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP. However, in February of last year, he was suddenly removed from his position as chairman of the CSRC. In June of the same year, he became a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the deputy director of the Economic Committee standing committee.
On February 8, 2024, the day after Yi Huiman was removed from his position as chairman of the CSRC, official reports disclosed Gu Jiangang’s charges, including “relying on enterprises for personal gain, blind confidence, lax management leading to significant investment risks; abusing power for personal gain, using public resources for private use, and engaging in widespread financial investments for personal profit”.
It was reported that both Gu and Yi’s sons had worked at the well-known international securities firm CICC or its subsidiaries. Gu Jiangang’s investigation may be related to a flawed several hundred billion private equity investment at ICBC, which received continued approval despite possible issues, potentially implicating CICC’s subsidiary, China International Capital Corporation (CICC).
Former Chairman of CICC, Ding Wei, was taken away in early summer this year and has been “out of contact” since then. The aforementioned several hundred billion yuan outsourced private equity investment project was initially planned by Ding Wei and Gu Jiangang during the early stages of CICC’s establishment. The project was first recommended by Yi Huiman’s son, who was working at CICC in Hong Kong at the time, with Gu Jiangang responsible for its subsequent promotion.
Yi Huiman’s son is still working at CICC in Hong Kong as usual these days, keeping a relatively low profile.
In mid-April this year, after the Central Inspection Team entered Zhejiang, the home province of Yi Huiman, key figures in the branches of China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in Zhejiang, who had previously held the top positions, encountered successive incidents.
Shen Rongqin, the former head of ICBC Zhejiang Branch under investigation, and Yi were old hometown friends from Zhejiang who both graduated from Zhejiang Finance and Banking School (now Zhejiang Financial Vocational College) and worked at ICBC Zhejiang Branch in their early years. Yi was transferred from Zhejiang to become the head of the Jiangsu Branch in 2000, while Shen Rongqin was transferred from Zhejiang to become the head of the Shandong Branch in 2006.
Moreover, during Yi’s tenure, over 2000 listed companies were added, with a higher number of companies from Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions going public. This could be related to his Zhejiang origins and years of work experience in Jiangsu. It is not ruled out that his family might have had involvement in these activities.
First Financial reported that since the beginning of this year, 41 mid-level officials have been investigated, including 8 officials at the department level.
According to the official order of investigation announcements, the 8 department-level officials who have fallen from grace are: Qizhala, deputy director of the National Committee of the CPPCC and the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee of the 14th National People’s Congress, Jiang Chaoliang, member of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and Vice Chairman of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee, Jin Xiangjun, Deputy Secretary of the Shanxi Provincial Party Committee and the Governor of the Province, Lan Tianli, Deputy Secretary of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Party Committee and Governor of the Autonomous Region, Bi Jingquan, member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the CPPCC and Deputy Director of the Economic Committee, Liu Hui, Vice Chairman of the Education, Science, Health and Sports Committee of the 13th National Committee of the CPPCC, Wang Lixia, Deputy Secretary of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Party Committee and Governor of the Autonomous Region, and Yi Huiman, Deputy Director of the Economic Committee of the 14th National Committee of the CPPCC.