CHINA has removed the head of its securities regulator following a turbulent period in the country’s stock market, appointing a top banking executive as his replacement.

    The announcement on Xinhua on Saturday follows a string of assurances from senior leaders following the Lunar New Year holiday that China will underpin its slowing economy and steady its currency.

    Xinhua said Xiao Gang, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) since 2013, had been succeeded by Liu Shiyu, chairman of Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. (AgBank) and a former deputy governor of the central bank.

    “Xiao’s departure is not a surprise following the recent stock disaster. This is a role vulnerable to public criticism because most Chinese retail investors are destined to lose money in such a market,” said Zhang Kaihua, a fund manager of Nanjing-based hedge fund Huyang Investment.

    Xiao and the CSRC came under fire as the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets slumped as much as 40 percent in just a few months last summer.

    In a further blow, a stock index “circuit breaker” introduced in January to limit stock market losses was deactivated after four days of use because it was blamed for exacerbating a sharp selloff.

    The gyrations in China’s stock markets, an unexpected devaluation of the yuan in August and sharp falls in currency reserves rattled global markets.

    China’s economic growth slipped last year to 6.9 percent, stellar by Western standards, but the weakest pace for China in more than two decades.

    Ahead of two high-profile events for China — a meeting in Shanghai this week of G20 financial leaders and the annual gathering of China’s legislature in March — officials have announced various measures to support the economy, including funds for infrastructure projects and increased financial support to struggling industry.

    China’s Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng said in an interview with State television Friday that he was confident that the country’s trade conditions would stabilize and improve in 2016.

    Investors and analysts said the new chief Liu, 54, a trained economist, would bring in new policies and strategies, but it remained to be seen what direction he would take.

    “Liu has a lot of experience in the financial sector, but there will be some policy uncertainty in the short term as it will take at least six months for the former banker to get used to his new role,” fund manager Zhang said.

    Andrew Sullivan, managing director, sales trading at Haitong International Securities Group in Hong Kong, said that removing Xiao had been largely expected.

    Liu spent most of his career at the People’s Bank of China, rising to deputy governor and holding that post from 2006 until he left in late 2014 to head up AgBank.

    Xiao, a former head of Bank of China Ltd., became the CSRC head in March 2013 and was charged with attracting investment into equities and away from speculative bubbles in sectors such as real estate, while defending against endemic insider trading.

    Xiao’s predecessors include Zhou Xiaochuan, the central bank governor, Guo Shuqing, the governor of Shandong Province and Shang Fulin, chairman of China Banking Regulatory Commission.

    As a regulator, Xiao was criticized for helping to talk up the market as a bubble developed, saying in March last year that China’s reform plans were driving last year’s stock market rally. As early as December 2014, analysts at Capital Economics Ltd. had seen signs of a stocks “mania” developing. (SD-Agencies)