Who Is China’s New Securities Regulator, the ‘Broker Butcher’

China surprised investors when it unexpectedly named Wu Qing, a 58-year-old market veteran, as the new chairman and Communist Party chief of the nation’s securities regulator. The abrupt appointment — coming just one day before markets close for the Chinese New Year holidays — underscores the urgency Beijing sees in addressing a stubborn rout in the country’s $8 trillion stock market.

Here’s what we know about this key move in the world’s second-biggest economy.

Wu Qing

Photographer: Xu Xiang/China SCIO

1. Why is Wu Qing nicknamed the ‘Broker Butcher’?

Wu got the nickname ‘broker butcher’ during a previous stint at China’s Securities Regulatory ...