First it was fund houses, then brokerages. Now, the cyber world is the target of a Beijing clampdown amid fears that pessimistic comments and bitter complaints about the mainland’s slumping stock markets may lead to social disunity.
Major financial websites on the mainland have been verbally informed by the propaganda department to sift out negative and sensitive commentaries, reports and headlines about the hard-hit markets, according to three online editors.
The internet censorship is another sign that mainland regulators have lost their grip on the plunging market and are desperate to avoid provoking public ire about the government’s inertia.
The Shanghai Composite Index has dived 58.4 per cent this year, and closed at 2,145.78 yesterday. Analysts predict it will tumble to the 2,000-point level amid a crisis of confidence.
Authorities have struggled to arrest the sharp decline in equities, with the Ministry of Finance slashing stamp duty by two-thirds in late April, only to see the short-lived, government-orchestrated rally lead to an even sharper downturn.
In July, the China Securities Regulatory Commission required fund managers not to issue reckless or negative comments about the markets as Beijing strove to maintain social order ahead of the Olympics. Last week, it asked brokerages to keep silent as all signs pointed to further falls in the benchmark index.
Speculation has been rife that the government will take a drastic step to bail out the markets by launching a long-expected stabilisation fund. But sources said hopes that this was imminent were far-fetched since the government had yet to map out a detailed operation plan.
It is not known whether the securities regulator is behind the internet censorship. The verbal notice was issued by the Communist Party’s Publicity Department.
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Beijing censors financial websites
Daniel Ren in Shanghai
Sep 10, 2008
First it was fund houses, then brokerages. Now, the cyber world is the target of a Beijing clampdown amid fears that pessimistic comments and bitter complaints about the mainland’s slumping stock markets may lead to social disunity.
Major financial websites on the mainland have been verbally informed by the propaganda department to sift out negative and sensitive commentaries, reports and headlines about the hard-hit markets, according to three online editors.
The internet censorship is another sign that mainland regulators have lost their grip on the plunging market and are desperate to avoid provoking public ire about the government’s inertia.
The Shanghai Composite Index has dived 58.4 per cent this year, and closed at 2,145.78 yesterday. Analysts predict it will tumble to the 2,000-point level amid a crisis of confidence.
Authorities have struggled to arrest the sharp decline in equities, with the Ministry of Finance slashing stamp duty by two-thirds in late April, only to see the short-lived, government-orchestrated rally lead to an even sharper downturn.
In July, the China Securities Regulatory Commission required fund managers not to issue reckless or negative comments about the markets as Beijing strove to maintain social order ahead of the Olympics. Last week, it asked brokerages to keep silent as all signs pointed to further falls in the benchmark index.
Speculation has been rife that the government will take a drastic step to bail out the markets by launching a long-expected stabilisation fund. But sources said hopes that this was imminent were far-fetched since the government had yet to map out a detailed operation plan.
It is not known whether the securities regulator is behind the internet censorship. The verbal notice was issued by the Communist Party’s Publicity Department.
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