China arrests man for social media suicide post amid stock market rout

A social media user who allegedly spread rumours about people in Beijing jumping off buildings in response to a stock market crash has been arrested. The 29-year-old man, surnamed Tian, was detained for “disorderly behaviour”, according to TV reports. He allegedly wrote on social media on July 3 that “there are people, because of the stock market crash, who have jumped off buildings in Beijing’s Financial Street’. The post in question could not be found on Sunday and may have already been deleted by censors, who strictly control what can be said on Chinese social media.

Main indexes will rise. I have ample cash at hand, and surely will buy

Samuel Chien, hedge fund boss

China’s Shanghai Composite Index has lost around 30 percent of its value over the past three weeks, a dramatic end to an equally breathtaking rally that saw it more than double in just seven months, fuelled by official interest-rate cuts. The government, regulators and financial institutions are now waging a concerted campaign to prop up the nation’s two main share markets, amid fears that a meltdown would rock the financial system and inflict heavy losses across an economy where annual growth is already running at a 24-year low. On Saturday, China froze new share offers and set up a market-stabilisation fund.

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