BANGKOK — Chinese shares rose Thursday as investors appeared to welcome Beijing’s choice of an industry veteran to head its securities watchdog, in its latest effort to boost confidence in ailing markets.
Wu Qing, a former chair of the Shanghai Stock Exchange with a reputation for being tough on market misbehavior, was named chairman and Communist Party chief of the China Securities Regulatory Commission late Wednesday.
He replaced Yi Huiman, who presided over months of turmoil as share markets slumped, losing trillions of dollars of value.
The official Xinhua News Agency gave no reason for Yi’s departure.
Earlier this week, the CSRC said that it was cracking down on insider trading, market manipulation and other crimes and would protect small investors. A state investment fund pledged to step up buying of exchange-traded funds and regulators also imposed limits on short-selling.
Chinese stocks still had been trading near five-year…
