Former head of China securities watchdog under corruption probe

The former chief of China's top regulatory body for securities markets has been placed under investigation, anti-corruption authorities said Saturday, marking the latest development in Beijing's years-long crackdown on official graft.

Yi Huiman was suddenly removed as chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) early last year, following months of market turmoil in the world's second-largest economy.

The country's two top anti-corruption bodies announced Saturday in an online statement that Yi "is suspected of serious violations of discipline and law", without providing details of his alleged wrongdoing or current whereabouts.

The former official, 60, is "undergoing disciplinary review and supervision investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission", the statement said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has waged an unrelenting crackdown on corruption since coming to power over a decade ago.

Proponents say the policy promotes clean governance but others contend that it also serves as a means for Xi to purge political rivals.

The campaign has hit the country's vast banking and financial sector particularly hard.

Yi, a former chairman of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, was appointed to the top job at the CSRC in January 2019.

He replaced Liu Shiyu, who was dismissed and investigated for similar discipline violations.