China tightens censorship of online economic commentators


06/28/2023

Weibo, a social media platform in China, announced that it has suspended accounts of three economic analysts who, it claimed, were disseminating "negative and malicious" information about the country's economy, including data on unemployment and stock market conditions.



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One of China's most well-known economic gurus, Wu Xiaobao, had his account suspended. The number of subscribers to his internet account was around 5 million. Additionally, Caixin, China's top business journal, routinely featured Wu's columns, and he wrote more than a dozen well-known books, including the one about the development of Tencent Holdings.

Experts in Europe and the United States believe that the recent crackdown on economic watchers is a continuation of the drive launched in 2021 to restrict any professionals who voiced a gloomy or critical assessment of the economy.

Due to his excessively pessimistic views on the stock market, BoCom International, a state-owned brokerage firm, sacked Hong Hao, one of the most esteemed stock market analysts, last year.

source: reuters.com