(Yicai Global) Jan. 18 -- Shanghai Stock Exchange chairman Wu Qing has been appointed as city's vice mayor. Wu previously worked as party secretary of Hongkou district in Shanghai before his appointment as chairman and secretary of party committee of the Shanghai Stock Exchange in May 2016. He has a profound background in China's securities regulatory system.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange made no comment on the appointment, which was first announced on the official WeChat account of Shanghai People's Congress. The 43rd meeting of the 14th standing committee of the city's legislature made the appointment.

Wu, 53, holds a PhD degree in economics. Prior to presiding the Shanghai Stock Exchange, he served as director of the department of fund and intermediary supervision and director of the department of private fund supervision of China Securities Regulatory Commission, the country's securities regulator.

He specialized in risk treatment as the director of the risk treatment office of CSRC in 2005. During his tenure, he made a reputation for his no-nonsense work approach toward brokerage companies. He penalized 31 non-compliance securities companies, including Southern Securities, MF Securities and some brokerage firms related to D'Long International Strategic Investment Company.

Wu Qing served as the director of the fund department of CSRC in March 2009. During his one-and-a-half-year term, he improved the procedures for application of fund products, and promoted the introduction of new regulations on fund sales and the reform of the fund issue system. He also severely punished "rat trading," or front-running, a form of misconduct under which traders of a financial institution build a position with their own money and then use investors' funds to elevate the share price.

Wu Qing left CSRC after his appointment as the party secretary of Hongkou District in Shanghai in December 2010. He attached particular importance to the development of the financial industry and promoted Hongkou District to become one of the financial hubs in Shanghai. As of the end of April 2015, 1,052 financial institutions of various types had been based in Hongkou District, with total assets under management reaching over CNY1.5 trillion (USD233 billion), data showed. The total number of financial companies in Hongkou District before 2011 was only 78.