China targets ‘speculators and hoarders’ to stop commodity boom

FILE PHOTO: An employee monitors molten iron being poured into a container at a steel plant in Hefei, Anhui province

SHANGHAI: China intensified its weeks-long campaign to cool a raw-materials boom, vowing severe punishment for violations ranging from excessive speculation to spreading fake news.

The government will show "zero tolerance” for monopolies in spot and futures markets, and for speculation and hoarding, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement after leaders of top metals producers were called to a meeting on Sunday.