China securities regulator denies encouraging short selling

SHANGHAI: China's recent liberalisation of stock short-selling rules is not intended to encourage the practice, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said on Saturday, after overseas markets dropped sharply in response to the move.

In a post on its official microblog account, the CSRC published a transcript of a journalist question and answer session in which it was asked whether the goal of the policy was to encourage short-selling and depress the stock market.