CHINA’S stock market regulator said Friday that nearly 20 companies would be fined for “illegal market activities,” as it struggles to restore confidence after a months-long share price rout.

    The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) will fine 18 companies and more than a dozen individuals around 1.1 billion yuan (US$173 million) for violations including “market manipulation,” the regulator said.

    China is struggling to restore confidence in its stock market, intervening on a broad scale amid months of declines that began in June and roiled exchanges worldwide.

    The regulator has banned major shareholders from reducing stakes over the next six months in a bid to reduce selling pressure in the volatile stock market.

    But in one of the cases announced Friday, major shareholders of a company reduced stakes in their company worth 900 million yuan.

    The CSRC said it will also confiscate around 329 million yuan from the companies and 13 individuals involved.

    The regulator fined Hengxin Asset Management Co. in Shandong Province 552 million yuan for manipulating trading in an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the SSE 180 Index.

    It is the first market manipulation case involving illegal trading of an ETF fund that the regulator has uncovered and fined, Deng Ge, the CSRC spokesman, told a news conference Friday.

    The regulator also fined four individual investors for manipulating the stock market through short sales of shares and frequent order placing and canceling to influence stock prices and to reap profits. (SD-Agencies)