China financial news service shuts down, ‘sorry’ for unspecified mistakes
Service suspended without explanation but US-China trade war may be to blame
The economic and financial news channel of Nasdaq-listed NetEase, one of China’s leading internet portals, stopped updating its content from noon on Tuesday for “rectification” of unspecified mistakes.
In a statement on its website and its mobile app, which had the style of a public self-criticism letter, the company did not explain what mistakes had been made.
The decision to close the sometimes outspoken news service comes at a time when Beijing is trying to maintain an upbeat economic narrative to ensure confidence in the economy and prevent further deterioration in financial markets.
NetEase said only that it had encountered “serious problems” and the firm, with a market value of US$24.7 billion, had conducted “in-depth and comprehensive reflections” and decided to close down the channel for an undisclosed period of time.
The suspension of service is intended to “maintain order in cyberspace communications” and “create a clean and tidy cyberspace” – phrases that come directly from a speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping in April 2016 and which have since become overriding policy principles for Beijing’s tighter control of the internet.