China forex regulator says stepping up graft risk controls

[BEIJING] China's foreign exchange regulator is stepping up its risk controls against corruption, it said in a statement released on Tuesday via the ruling Communist Party's anti-graft watchdog.

President Xi Jinping has launched a sweeping crackdown on deep-rooted graft since taking over the party's leadership in late 2012 and the presidency in 2013. Dozens of senior officials have been investigated or jailed.

The graft-fighting division of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, in a statement released by the party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, said that its risk control system was a vital part of battling corruption.

Putting this system into full effect would be one of the tasks the foreign exchange regulator had to achieve this year, it said.

That would include looking closely at projects which "involve power or risk", it added, without elaborating.

China's financial regulators have been under heavy pressure since stock markets collapsed in mid-June following a long bull run, although the statement made no mention of the markets.

REUTERS