New head of China’s financial regulator vows to prevent ‘blow-ups’ in first policy meeting

Ding Xiangqun identified smaller lenders, the property sector and local government debt as sources of risk while calling for tougher supervision

2-MIN READ2-MIN

Listen

China’s newly appointed financial regulator chief Ding Xiangqun. Photo: Handout

Published: 4:09pm, 9 Jun 2026Updated: 5:44pm, 9 Jun 2026

The newly appointed head of China’s financial regulator used her first major policy meeting since taking office to stress the urgency of tackling financial liabilities, calling for faster action to address risks at smaller financial institutions, the property sector and local government debt.

Ding Xiangqun, who took over leadership of the National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA) on May 29 and is the first woman to lead China’s top banking and insurance regulator, chaired an expanded meeting of the NFRA’s Communist Party committee on June 5 to outline the agency’s priorities. The details of the meeting were released on Monday.

“We will steadily advance the resolution of risks at smaller financial institutions, resolutely guard against financial blow-ups, further expand the role of the property-sector white-list programme and support the transition of local government financing vehicles,” the NFRA said in a statement summarising the meeting.

Smaller lenders have been a focus of China’s financial clean-up campaign, as many have lent heavily to troubled property developers and local government financing vehicles (LGFVs), making them more vulnerable to losses than the country’s large state-owned banks.

Consolidation has accelerated in recent years, with at least 350 banking licences cancelled between January and November 2025, according to research by China International Capital Corporation (CICC), compared with 198 licences cancelled in all of 2024.

The regulator also pledged to further expand the role of the property-sector “white list” financing programme and develop financing mechanisms suited to China’s evolving housing market.

The policy was introduced after the debt crisis at developers such as China Evergrande Group and Country Garden left millions of pre-sold homes unfinished, turning the property downturn into a social as well as an economic challenge.

New head of China’s financial regulator vows to prevent ‘blow-ups’ in first policy meeting

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Ding Xiangqun identified smaller lenders, the property sector and local government debt as sources of risk while calling for tougher supervision

Ding Xiangqun identified smaller lenders, the property sector and local government debt as sources of risk while calling for tougher supervision