(Yicai) July 31 -- China securities regulator has promoted its head of law enforcement to vice chairman.

Li Ming, chief of the enforcement bureau at the China Securities and Regulatory Commission, will replace Fang Xinghai as vice chairman, the watchdog announced yesterday. The CSRC has four vice chairmen.

Headed by Wu Qing as chairman since January 2021, the CSRC has vowed to use “teeth and thorns” as part of its broader strategy to maintain market integrity, protect investors, and promote fair and orderly market operations.

Li, 55, has extensive experience in inspection, law enforcement, and regulatory oversight. He has had several roles at the CSRC, including director of its Jiangsu provincial bureau and listing department, and was general manager of the National Equities Exchange and Quotations for four years to December 2020. He has a doctorate in law.

China will use a combination of regulatory measures, administrative penalties, market bans, punishments, and mandatory delisting for major securities violations as well as make good use of collective lawsuits, supporting lawsuits, and criminal measures to create a compounded deterrent effect on violators, Li told Yicai in February in response to a question about how the CSRC can increase the cost of violations.

Market manipulation is essentially fraud, Li believes. It involves artificially controlling share prices, causing sharp fluctuations, misleading investors’ trading decisions, and causing losses to investors and profits to manipulators.

Insider trading happens when individuals trade the shares of public listed companies after having obtained non-public, material information, thereby gaining more opportunities to profit. Li sees insider trading as theft, he said.

Maintaining strict entry standards for the capital market is crucial to improving the quality of listed companies, Li also said at the time.

Editor: Futura Costaglione