Securities Watchdog Appoints New International Affairs Director

China’s top securities watchdog will promote Shen Bing, deputy director-general of its international affairs department, to lead the department, sources close to the matter told Caixin.

The personnel move comes nearly two months after Jiang Feng, former director-general of the Department of International Affairs at the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), left the post to become the general manager of the Shanghai Stock Exchange in late May.

The CSRC’s international affairs department played a leading role in designing the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect and Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect programs. It also helped push forward the inclusion of Chinese A-shares in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.

Shen’s appointment will be completed soon, the sources said. A source familiar with Shen described him as careful and diligent, often working in the office on weekends.

Shen, 48, first joined the CSRC in 1996. He began working for the CSRC-backed China Securities Depository and Clearing Corp. Ltd., the country’s securities settlement platform, in 2004. Shen returned to the securities regulator in 2015 to serve as deputy director-general of the international affairs department.

Shen is expected to be responsible for advancing several reforms, including a pilot program for full H-share convertibility, which would allow major shareholders of mainland firms to float “domestic shares” on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Lin Jinbing contributed to this report.

Contact Reporter Lin Jinbing (jinbinglin@caixin.com)