China financial crackdown intensifies

China's crackdown on its financial industry is intensifying as authorities investigate strategies blamed for exacerbating a $5-trillion stock-market rout.

Shanghai police raided hedge fund Zexi Investment on Sunday, taking away computers and other materials, according to a person familiar with the matter. General manager Xu Xiang was detained, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Executives at Yishidun International Trading and Huaxin Futures were arrested, Xinhua said in a separate report.

Adding to evidence that a clampdown on the financial industry is spreading, Agricultural Bank of China Ltd President Zhang Yun was taken away to assist authorities with an investigation, people familiar with the matter said on Monday, without giving details.

The Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection is carrying out its first broad checks on the finance industry since President Xi Jinping became the party's head in November 2012. The summer's stock-market rout in China has triggered investigations that have snared executives from the country's biggest securities firm as well as a fund managers and a top regulatory official.

"The biggest-ever storm is brewing for China's financial industry and more heads will roll," said Hu Xingdou, an economics professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology.

'Illegal profit'

Xu, who founded the top-performing hedge fund firm Zexi, was detained on charges including insider trading and stock manipulation, the Xinhua reported. Two executives at Jiangsu-based Yishidun International Trading and the technical director at Shanghai-based Huaxin Futures were arrested after a police investigation showed they made 2 billion yuan ($316 million) in "illegal profit," Xinhua reported separately, citing the Ministry of Public Security.

Sina.com reported earlier on Monday that Agricultural Bank's Zhang had been taken away and didn't attend a disciplinary committee meeting. Assisting with an investigation doesn't mean Zhang is accused of wrongdoing.