Chinese censors wipe out discussions about stock market rout as key index tumbles past 2015 low
The China Securities Regulatory Commission, in a memo dated September 7, has asked mutual funds and brokerages from making public comments that hurt the stock market and spread chaos
The mainland’s securities regulator is making renewed efforts to stabilise the weak stock market amid heightened fears over the escalating US-China trade war, instructing fund managers and analysts from talking down shares after some of their pessimistic views have triggered panic among investors.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) distributed a memo, dated September 7, to financial institutions, including mutual funds and brokerages, instructing them to avoid making public comments that “lack professional prudence and substantial understanding of the market conditions”, according to the document obtained by the South China Morning Post.
Some of the views “have badly tainted the reputation of the companies and caused a disorder in the market with huge negative impact”, the memo added.
In the first eight months of this year, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index has slumped 17.6 per cent, resulting in a new round of crisis of confidence in the market where millions of retail investors spend years of savings to chase short-term gains from share price swings.
The key indicator hit a three-year low on Monday battered by fears of a move by the US President Donald Trump to impose tariffs on another US$200 billion worth of Chinese imports, ending at 2,651.79.
