China vows to bring all financial activity under supervision, with 'no exceptions'

China's top financial regulator announced plans Monday to bring all financial activities under supervision, vowing to eliminate blind spots in oversight.

Ding Xiangjun, director of the National Financial Regulatory Administration, made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the 2026 Financial Street Forum annual conference in Beijing, saying authorities would "work to include all financial activities under supervision in accordance with the law, achieving full coverage of oversight with no exceptions."

Ding said regulators would improve the risk-resolution framework and expand resources available to address risks, while using a range of tools — including mergers and acquisitions and market exits — to handle high-risk financial institutions in an orderly manner. He also outlined plans to reduce the number of small and medium-sized financial institutions and raise their quality in line with local conditions.

He added that authorities would strictly investigate and punish key individuals, cases and conduct behind serious financial risks to strengthen the binding force and deterrent effect of regulation. "We will ensure that the supervisory regime truly becomes a high-voltage wire," he said. Authorities would also crack down on what he called the financial "gray-and-black industry" — referring to illegal and irregular financial operations.

Regulators will also strengthen "penetrating supervision" — looking through substance rather than form to scrutinize the conduct of major shareholders and executives, related-party transactions, and large-scale investments and loans. Ding said authorities would also close institutional gaps in emerging areas such as cooperation between financial institutions and third parties, and cybersecurity.

"China's banking and insurance sectors are currently operating in a stable manner overall," Ding said. "Large financial institutions are being managed soundly, and the reform and risk resolution of small and medium-sized financial institutions are progressing in an orderly fashion — risks are broadly controllable."

He noted that new funding supplied by the banking sector to the real economy in the first three quarters of this year exceeded 20 trillion yuan ($3 trillion), while insurance payouts approached 2 trillion yuan. He added that significant progress had been made recently in drafting and revising the Financial Law, the Banking Supervision and Administration Law, and the Insurance Law.

The forum, held under the theme "Openness, Cooperation and Inclusiveness — Jointly Building a New Ecosystem for Global Financial Development," drew more than 400 participants from over 40 countries and regions. People's Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng, China Securities Regulatory Commission Chairman Wu Qing and State Administration of Foreign Exchange Director Zhu Hexin also delivered keynote speeches at the opening ceremony.