China's top anti-graft body on Monday clarified regulations for members and officials of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in relation to securities trading, saying that they can engage in legitimate activity in the market but should not violate relevant rules.
The securities market is an important part of China's socialist market economy system, and Party officials' investment of their legal assets in the market supports the country's construction, read a statement posted on the website of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission.
But some activities are forbidden by the rules, including receiving and giving negotiable securities and equities, illegally holding shares of non-listed companies, and illegally investing or buying shares in overseas markets, the statement said.
Other activities that Party officials should avoid include secret deals or leaking inside information, using government funds or illegally borrowing money to invest in stocks or concealing one's shareholdings.
The commissions said that Party officials should not illegally invest in foreign markets.
In a bid to evade the country's policies that prohibit CPC members who hold official positions from setting up enterprises, some Party officials have gone abroad to register companies or invest in shares for their personal interests.
For instance, Zhang Jushi, former head of the Shaoxing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, East China's Zhejiang Province, made use of his position to illegally establish companies, trade stocks and invest in foreign countries from 2007 to 2015, according to the statement.
Zhang was expelled from the Party and dismissed from his office and was referred to the judicial authorities for legal action in 2015, media reports said in September 2015.
The commissions also restricted certain groups of people from buying or selling stocks, the statement showed.
For instance, people in charge of confidential information of a listed company and those who have access to confidential information in the competent department of the state-owned holding unit of a listed company, as well as their parents, spouses, children and children's spouses, are not allowed to buy or sell the shares of the listed companies managed by the above-mentioned competent authorities.
The staff of Party and government organs that have access to confidential information will continue to be bound by the regulations within three months after leaving their positions, according to the statement.
