Zhejiang Merchants Bank President Zhang Rongsen Abruptly Resigns Just 9 Days After Officially Announcing Reelection

Recently, Zhang Rongsen, the President of Zhejiang Merchants Bank, suddenly announced his resignation, just 9 days after he was re-elected as President, attracting attention from the financial industry.

On the afternoon of August 18th, Zhejiang Merchants Bank announced that President Zhang Rongsen resigned from his positions as executive director and president due to personal reasons. The bank stated that individual executive changes would not affect the bank’s operations.

Of note, on August 9th, at the first meeting of the seventh board of directors, Zhejiang Merchants Bank announced the re-appointment of Zhang Rongsen as President, with his term consistent with that of the seventh board of directors.

The independent directors of the bank believe that Zhang Rongsen meets the qualifications and work experience required by laws and regulations for senior management positions. He does not fall under any circumstances prohibited by the Company Law or the Articles of Association from serving as a senior management personnel at Zhejiang Merchants Bank, nor is he identified by the China Securities Regulatory Commission as a market ban participant awaiting unblocking.

On the 17th, media reports indicated that Zhang Rongsen unexpectedly missed the Zhejiang Merchants Bank’s 20th Anniversary High-Quality Development Conference held on the 16th, sparking various speculations. On the 15th, Zhang Rongsen participated in the bank’s High-Quality Development and Practice of Five Major Articles themed symposium and interacted with media and analysts.

According to records, Zhang Rongsen was born in October 1968. He has previously served as the President of the Guangfa Bank Beijing Haidian Bridge Branch, Member of the Party Committee and Assistant to the President of the Guangfa Bank Beijing Branch, in charge of the establishment of the Jiangsu Bank Beijing Branch, Secretary of the Party Committee, and President of the Jiangsu Bank Beijing Branch, Member of the Party Committee, Vice President, and Executive Director of the Jiangsu Bank.

In October 2017, Zhang Rongsen joined Zhejiang Merchants Bank as Vice President and President of the Beijing Branch. Since August 2021, he served as President of Zhejiang Merchants Bank until his recent resignation.

According to the official website, Zhejiang Merchants Bank is one of China’s twelve national joint-stock commercial banks, established in August 2004, with its headquarters in Hangzhou. It is the 13th “A+H” listed bank. Zhejiang Merchants Bank has 342 branches in 22 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central government) across China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

In recent years, several high-ranking officials of financial institutions in Zhejiang have fallen from grace.

On April 26, 2023, Guo Xingang, former Party Secretary and President of the Bank of China Zhejiang Provincial Branch, was investigated.

On December 7, 2023, Li Xiaohong, former senior vice manager of the Construction Bank Zhejiang Provincial Branch, proactively turned himself in for investigation.

On December 5 last year, Lao Xinjiang, former Vice President of the Construction Bank Zhejiang Provincial Branch, was investigated (many officials from the bank were implicated that year).

On November 5 last year, Lu Xiaodong, former Vice President of the Agricultural Bank of China Zhejiang Provincial Branch, was expelled from the party and removed from office.

On the afternoon of May 4 last year, Zhu Congjiu, who had been in charge of the financial industry in Zhejiang for ten years, was investigated.

In February last year, Shen Renkang, former Party Secretary and Chairman of Zhejiang Merchants Bank, was investigated. In January 2022, before his investigation, Shen Renkang resigned, sparking discussions across various sectors.