Officials announced on Tuesday that Zhou Liang, a senior official at China's National Financial Regulatory Administration and former anti-corruption fighter, is under investigation for corruption. The probe marks one of the highest-profile purges in China's financial regulatory apparatus in recent years.
Officials announced on Tuesday that Zhou Liang, a senior Chinese financial regulator and former graft fighter, has been placed under investigation for corruption. The probe marks one of the highest-profile purges among China’s financial regulatory apparatus in recent years, as authorities have zeroed in on the once-elite and opaque financial sector since the 2022 party congress. Zhou Liang's career spans several key roles. In the late 1990s, he served in the general office of the Guangdong provincial government in southern China. He later worked in the State Council System Reform Office, Beijing’s municipal government, and the Hainan provincial government. Before joining the financial regulatory body, Zhou headed the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI)’s organisation department, a role that gave him significant influence over the appointment and training of the country’s corruption fighters. In 2017, he was appointed vice-chairman of China’s financial regulator, then called the China Banking Regulatory Commission, which evolved into the NFRA in 2023. Zhou’s transition from corruption investigator to financial regulator was initially seen as a move to institutionalise discipline within the banking sector, and he remained a central figure amid China’s post-2017 financial regulatory restructuring. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and National Commission of Supervision website did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Previously, former Chinese senior banker Bai Tianhui was executed for taking US$155 million in bribes.