Less than a week after “Black Monday” events that set China’s markets at the focus of investors’ attention, Chinese authorities have announced a special campaign against those found to have spread rumors about the Chinese stock market.
On Sunday – August 30, 2015, China’s Ministry of Public Security said it had targeted a number of people who have published false information about several emergency events, including the recent stock market turmoil and the Tianjin blast. The Ministry has instructed the relevant websites to close the accounts of such users.
An official at the Ministry of Public Security said that the cyberspace is a public space and that the network society is a society ruled by law. Fabricated rumors spread across the stock market, provoke social discontent, create chaos and panic, seriously affecting market confidence and interfering with financial market order.
Public security authorities will resolutely investigate and punish those responsible, the official added.
Last week it became clear that the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) was investigating several leading brokerages in the country over alleged violations of the Securities Law of the People’s Republic of China.
Chinese stocks tumbled heavily this morning, as Chinese authorities halted emergency stock buying, Japanese industrial output showed decline in July, whereas speculation of a possible Fed rate hike kept mounting.
To view the official announcement by China’s Ministry of Public Security, click here.