Opinion | Tycoon angers netizens by posting sensitive information on Weibo

Disgruntled investors in China have written a 3000-word letter to the China Securities Regulatory Commission, reporting inappropriate Weibo posts by Pan Shiyi

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Pan Shiyi revealed the information of a listed company in one of his December Weibo posts.

Published: 2:11pm, 2 Jan 2013Updated: 2:55pm, 2 Jan 2013

China’s commentators need to be more careful about what they say – especially when discussing listed companies.

This is a lesson real estate tycoon Pan Shiyi has learned.

Disgruntled investors in China have written a 3000-word letter to the China Securities Regulatory Commission, reporting inappropriate Weibo posts by Pan Shiyi, China’s Finance and Investment newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Popular micro-blogger Pan Shiyi is accused of posting sensitive information on certain listed companies on Weibo. His posts help cause the companies’ stock prices to fluctuate, some by as much as 8 per cent, the report said.

Pan, who has almost 14 million followers on China’s micro-blogging service Sina Weibo, speaks out regularly on a variety of topics. Besides discussing social issues and his personal life, the Soho China chairman often writes about real estate.

But investors believe some of his posts with confidential information have led to unusual fluctuations in share prices.

In a post published on December 6, 2012, Pan congratulated Zhejiang Hangxiao Steel Structure, a mainland listed company, on winning a contract for a Soho project.