Online Forums Give China's Investors Market-Moving Intel

  • Anyone can grill listed firms on the exchange-run platforms
  • Avenue meant to improve transparency may also be breeding hype

Photographer: Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images

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China’s investors have a unique channel to get market-moving intel.

The exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen have online Q&A platforms where anyone with a mainland cell number can sign up and grill listed companies. Comments on the sites, little known among foreign investors, often resemble the moans seen on a corporate Twitter feed: "What’s wrong with Hangzhou Jiebai? Why are your shares falling every day?" a user wrote on Dec. 19.