New securities chief faces challenge in restoring confidence

Liu Shiyu, the newly appointed head of China's securities watchdog to replace Xiao Gang, faces a daunting task in making the equity market more market-oriented and in cracking down on illegal activities.

Dong Dengxin, a finance researcher at Wuhan University of Science and Technology, said, "I think the China Securities Regulatory Commission chairman has a challenging role.

"The Chinese capital market has not reached a high market-oriented and law-based level, so the public relies heavily on the government and this puts pressure on the job.