China’s Top Securities Regulator Steps Down Amid Turmoil

China’s top securities regulator will step down following months of turmoil in Chinese stock markets that have battered faith in Beijing’s economic management.

Then head of China Securities Regulatory Commission Xiao Gang (L) and Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China, at a press conference in Beijing, China, on March 11, 2014. Xiao who was appointed China's top securities regulator in March 2013 will step down following months of turmoil in the Chinese stock markets, the state-run news agency said Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. Chinatopix via AP

BEIJING—China’s top securities regulator will step down following months of turmoil in Chinese stock markets that have battered faith in Beijing’s economic management.

The departure of Xiao Gang, a legal expert with decades of experience in the finance industry, may help assuage public anger at the dramatic boom and bust, but doesn’t address the market’s underlying problems.

State mouthpiece Xinhua News Agency reported on Feb. 20 that Xiao would be replaced by Liu Shiyu, chairman of the Agricultural Bank of China and a former deputy governor of China’s central bank.

His departure will not bring a clean era for China's capital, but at most a belated consolation for investors who have been hurt.

— Shi Shusi, veteran financial commentator