China Considers Merger of Banking, Insurance Watchdogs

  • Seen as attempt to coordinate campaign against financial risk
  • Plan would merge CBRC and CIRC into one regulatory body
A man rides a bicycle along the Bund while buildings of Pudong's Lujiazui financial district stand across the Huangpu River as the sun rises in Shanghai, China, on Friday, Oct. 2, 2015.

Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

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China is considering a merger of its banking and insurance regulators, people familiar with the matter said, as it seeks to better coordinate its attempts to counter financial risks in the world’s second-largest economy.

Government agencies under the direction of a Communist Party central reform group led by President Xi Jinping are drafting a plan that would combine the China Banking Regulatory Commission and the China Insurance Regulatory Commission under a single head, the people said, asking not to be named because they aren’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly.