China securities official expected to lead Shenzhen stock exchange, say sources

(Reuters) -China is expected to appoint a senior securities official to head its second-largest bourse, four sources said, filling a role that has been vacant for the unusually long period of seven months as the securities regulator reshuffled its leadership.

Li Jizun, a civil servant who is now director of the general office at the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), is set to become general manager of the 27-trillion-yuan ($3.73-trillion) Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the sources said.

The role is the exchange's second most senior executive position and will see Li, whose appointment was finalised last week, move from the capital Beijing to the southern boom city of Shenzhen in the next few weeks, said two of the sources.

All the sources declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

The CSRC and the Shenzhen exchange did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment. Li could not be immediately reached for comment.

Born in 1974, Li has headed the regulator's general office since 2022, overseeing day-to-day operations and managing the administrative affairs of its top leadership, according to one of the sources familiar with the matter and Chinese media.

A former State Council official, Li began working at the CSRC in 2016, first in the research center mainly charged with studying and drafting strategies for capital markets and then heading the markets department overseeing infrastructure such as settlement and custody as well as risk management.

He was also deeply involved in the CSRC's capital market reform measures that include the launch of Shanghai's Nasdaq-style STAR Market and the pilot of a U.S.-style registration system for stock market floats, domestic media said.

Li's appointment comes after the exchange's former general manager, Sha Yan, was promoted as its Communist Party chief in December.

It is a common practice at state-owned institutions and firms for the party chief to also hold the position of chairman.

Sha had worked at the securities regulator for more than two decades before taking over at the Shenzhen exchange in mid-2020, after her predecessor Wang Jianjun was promoted to the party chief role before returning to the regulator as a vice chairman.

It is also common practice for CSRC officials to lead one of the main stock exchanges to strengthen their credentials and leadership capabilities before they return to the regulator in a more senior position.

Wang, also a CSRC veteran, served as the director of the general office before his tenure at the Shenzhen exchange.

Founded in 1990 in what was then a fishing village, the Shenzhen exchange has fast developed to become China's largest stock market after the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and one of the world's busiest markets for IPOs.

Shenzhen is a key tech and manufacturing hub, and its exchange has had a key role in raising funds for companies in the tech and healthcare sectors.

Last year, its start-up board ChiNext took the global crown for IPO volumes, with $16.4 billion raised, LSEG data shows.

The CSRC is in the midst of re-organising its own leadership.

On Tuesday, the regulator promoted Li Ming, its law enforcement head, to the role of vice chairman, replacing Fang Xinghai, in a step that confirmed an earlier report by Reuters.

In February, Wu Qing, a former deputy party chief in the financial hub of Shanghai, took over as CSRC chairman when stock markets were near their lowest in five years and after several warnings against short-selling and other steps to arrest the slide by his predecessor Yi Huiman failed.

($1=7.2303 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Reuters staff; Editing by Miral Fahmy and Clarence Fernandez)