(Yicai) Feb. 8 -- China has named markets veteran Wu Qing to replace Yi Huiman as the chief of its securities regulator two days before the start of the lunar new year holiday.

The State Council, the country’s cabinet, took the decision to appoint Wu as the 10th chairman and party secretary of the CSRC, Xinhua News Agency reported after the end of trading yesterday, without giving any reason. His predecessor was handed the watchdog’s top job in 2019.

Wu’s appointment comes amid a prolonged downturn in the Chinese stock market, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index falling to its lowest in nearly five years at the start of this week. Markets have rallied since sovereign wealth fund Central Huijin Investment said it would further buy into exchange-traded funds and the CSRC put emergency restrictions on margin trading and stock pledges.

Wu, 58, chaired the Shanghai Stock Exchange from May 2016 to December 2017. Previously at the CSRC, he led its departments for institutional supervision, risk disposal for securities companies, and fund supervision. Wu is also the deputy party secretary and executive vice mayor of Shanghai, according to the website of the Shanghai government. 

Wu, who has a doctorate in economics, was the editor-in-chief, along with Ma Qingquan, of the first and second volumes of the History of Chinese Securities, which recorded the major events in China’s securities market from 1978 to 2007.

The main Shanghai and Shenzhen stock market indexes both gained 1.3 percent today, while the ChiNext Index, which tracks firms listed on Shenzhen’s Growth Enterprise Market, rose 1.2 percent.

Editor: Martin Kadiev