China’s State Council has removed the assistant chair of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, Yang Jiacai, without detailing why.
The country’s chief administrative body said on Thursday that Yang – who was recently reported by local media to be under investigation in connection with a loan scandal – had been removed from his position at the banking regulator. The announcement came at the end of a statement that also made public the dismissals of four other high-ranking officials.
News magazine Caixin reported in April that Yang was under investigation for alleged links to a loan scandal in Hubei province involving the Bank of Commununications.
The removal comes a day after Wu Xiaohui, the head of Chinese insurance group Anbang, was reportedly detained by police as part of an investigation into the company.
Last month, the country’s top insurance regulator, Xiang Junbo, was placed under investigation for “severely violating party discipline.”
Premier Li Keqiang warned earlier this year that authorities will crack down on corruption involving “individual regulators and senior company executives.”
Investigations are good; executions are better.
With a deep-rooted culture of corruption in a country of China’s size, executions are probably the only effective answer.