Central Commission for Discipline Inspection: Yao Qian was expelled from the party and removed from office for using virtual currency to trade power for money

On November 20, 2024, according to the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission, Yao Qian, former director of the Science and Technology Supervision Department and former director of the Information Center of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, abandoned his original mission, was not political, coveted fame, regarded himself as a financial technology expert, spared no effort to support specific technology service providers for his own selfishness, and was willing to be the "key training target" of the hunters. Abuse of regulatory powers such as the right to recommend, formulate, and execute policies, abandon the responsibility of science and technology supervision, seek improper benefits for others in the expansion of business, software and hardware procurement of information technology system service institutions, and use virtual currency to trade power for money. Engage in superstitious activities; ignore the spirit of the Central Eight Regulations, illegally accept valuable items such as Moutai and accept banquets; violate organizational principles and seek benefits for others in the recruitment of employees; violate the discipline of integrity, and hand over the fees such as car rental that should be paid by individuals to the supervision object, illegally borrow large sums of money from the supervision object, and illegally invest in shares in enterprises. Illegal acceptance of property, the amount is extremely huge.

After research by the Party Committee of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, it was decided to expel Yao Qian from the Party; after research by the Discipline Inspection and Supervision Group of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission stationed in the China Securities Regulatory Commission, it was decided to expel Yao Qian from public office; and to confiscate his illegal gains; after research by the Supervisory Committee of Shanwei City, Guangdong Province, it was decided to transfer Yao Qian's suspected criminal case to the procuratorate for review and prosecution in accordance with the law, and to transfer the relevant property together.

In April 2024, Yao Qian was suspected of serious violations of discipline and law, and is currently undergoing disciplinary review by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission’s Discipline Inspection and Supervision Group of the China Securities Regulatory Commission and supervisory investigation by the Shanwei Municipal Supervisory Committee of Guangdong Province.

Yao Qian is one of the pioneers of China's central bank digital currency and a rare official in China who has been promoting cryptocurrency for a long time.

Yao Qian holds a PhD and is a senior economist. Yao Qian worked in the Information Department of the China Securities Regulatory Commission and China Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation for many years. In June 1997, he served as a senior clerk in the Information and Statistics Department of the China Securities Regulatory Commission; in April 2001, he served as the deputy director of the Computer Management Department of the Information Center of the China Securities Regulatory Commission; in September 2002, he served as the deputy director of the Technology Department of the China Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation; in May 2006, he served as the director of the System Operation Department of the China Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation. In December 2010, he was transferred to the central bank and served as a member of the Party Committee and deputy director of the Credit Information Center of the People's Bank of China. Later, he served as deputy director of the Science and Technology Department of the central bank and director of the Digital Currency Research Institute of the central bank.

On April 8, Yao Qian published an article in Caixin discussing the Bitcoin spot ETF approved by the United States, saying that the market expects the price of Bitcoin to continue to rise. He took stock of the opinions of supporters and opponents of Bitcoin, and introduced the US regulatory measures on cryptocurrencies, including strengthening supervision of market manipulation, strengthening anti-money laundering supervision and strengthening exchange supervision.