China's Stock Regulator Piles on Fines: Eye on Chinese Media

(Bloomberg) -- China's stock market regulator leveled more fines in the first four months of 2017 than all of last year. The China Securities Regulatory Commission handed down almost 5.5 billion yuan ($796 million) in fines in the period, China Central Television reported. Last week, Southwest Securities Co. disclosed a 30 million yuan fine related to its sponsorship of a private placement for Henan Dayou Energy Co. THE CONTEXT: President Xi Jinping is looking to avoid a repeat of the 2015 stock market rout and rein in financial risks ahead of a mid-term Communist Party reshuffle later this year.

In Other Reports:

• CULTURE: China has outlined a plan to help local cultural enterprises become top global competitors by 2020, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. The plan, which was issued by the general offices of the Communist Party's Central Committee and the State Council, called for developing the cultural industry into a pillar of the national economy. Under the plan, China intends to bolster regulations on online media as authorities “intensify management” over search engines, instant messaging tools and news apps.
• ROBOTICS: China expects to sell more than 100,000 industrial robots this year amid government efforts to build up domestic production, the People's Daily said. Despite becoming the world's largest market for industrial robots in 2013, China has lagged behind other nations in producing the most advanced machines. Bloomberg Intelligence said Chinese demand for industrial robots should pick up as the nation pushes ahead with plans to upgrade the local manufacturing industry.
• WEATHER: Almost 7,000 people have been displaced after heavy ranks soaked northern Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, the English-language China Daily said. The storms caused landslides in mountainous areas and flooding in three urban districts.

To contact the reporter on this story: Keith Zhai in Singapore at qzhai4@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Ten Kate at dtenkate@bloomberg.net, Brendan Scott, Jeff Kearns