BEIJING (Reuters) – China has appointed an anti-graft official to lead a new committee to fight corruption in the financial sector, showing the ruling Communist Party’s tightening grip on an industry with $66 trillion in assets.
Wang Weidong, 56, has been named as chief of the Central Financial Discipline Inspection and Supervision Work Committee, according to an article published Monday by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), a party body which is the nation’s top graft watchdog.
The article is the first public mention of the committee that targets the finance sector within the anti-graft organ, domestic media Caixin reported.
The committee will “strengthen political supervision and promote the strengthening of party building in the financial system”, Wang was quoted as saying in the article.
It will ensure the financial system comprehensively strengthens supervision, prevents and resolves risks, and promotes high-quality financial development, the article said.
The Communist Party has stepped up control of the financial sector. Last year, China set up the Central Financial Commission, a financial watchdog run by the party, as part of a broad reorganisation to give the ruling party direct control and supervision over financial affairs.
The party in recent years has intensified its campaign to uncover corruption and illegal dealings in the sector, with some former senior finance officials expelled from the party or charged with bribery.
China will further strengthen financial supervision to prevent risks, according to a document released Sunday following a closed-doors meeting of the Communist Party’s Central Committee, led by President Xi Jinping, which takes place roughly every five years.
Wang served as a deputy secretary general of the CCDI in 2016 and was appointed as head of the local anti-graft body in Tibet in 2019.
(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Toby Chopra)
