From Bloomberg News:
China’s government doubled the maximum length of imprisonment for securities manipulators to 10 years, a move that may help boost investors’ confidence in the nation’s stock markets as state companies including Air China Ltd. prepare to sell local-currency A shares for the first time.
In addition, a law enabling jail terms of up to seven years for corrupt senior managers of state-controlled enterprises was extended to include all listed companies, according to the central government’s Web site.
Mismanagement, corruption and stock-manipulation contributed to a slump in Chinese stocks that caused the Shanghai Composite Index to more than halve in the four years through July last year. The index, having rebounded 66 percent from its July 7 low, is still 25 percent below its 2001 peak.