Fintech File photo: VCG

China's top leaders on Monday sent yet another crucial signal that the country would further tighten financial regulations and prevent what they call the "disorderly" expansion of capital, particularly in the internet sectors.

While officials have been stressing the need to rein in illegal activities that pose a serious risk for China's economy for some time, the latest statement from a top meeting chaired by Chinese President Xi Jinping further demonstrates top officials' wariness of the risks and their determination to root them out.

The meeting of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs called for enhanced financial and monopoly oversight, and stated that all financial activities will be regulated, according to the China Media Group on Monday night.

Notably, the meeting specifically stressed the need to establish and improve the regulatory system for online platforms with clear rules and boundaries to rein in, among other issues, monopolistic activities and the disorderly expansion of capital.

The latest signal followed actions taken by market regulators against monopolistic actions by some internet companies, including some of China's top internet giants such as Baidu Inc, Tencent Holdings and DiDi Chuxing.

On Friday, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) said it had imposed fines on a dozen companies for violating anti-monopoly laws on 10 purchases. 

The SAMR also fined five online shopping platforms, including Pinduoduo, for engaging in a price war in the community grocery delivery businesses.

The market regulator has also launched an anti-trust probe into e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, and financial regulators have also conducted interviews with Alibaba's fintech arm Ant Group, pinpointing a raft of major problems with the Alipay operator, such as defiance of regulatory and compliance requirements.

Moreover, the meeting on Monday also urged online platforms to step up protection of consumers rights, including personal data and privacy, and step on research and development to make breakthroughs in core technologies.

The meeting also called for comprehensive reforms and measures to reach China's goal of peaking carbon dioxide emission by 2030 and reaching carbon neutrality by 2060, characterizing it a "hard battle" and a test for the governance capability of the Communist Party of China.