By SHE Xiaochen
The Year of the Ox didn’t have a bullish start for the young speculators. By Friday, the Shanghai composite index closed at 3,509.08 and the Growth Enterprise Index (GEI) at 2,914.11. Both have fallen more than 5 percent since February 18, the first Ox trading day.
The A-share stock market was looking so promising before the holiday that everybody who’s anybody wanted a finger in the pie. As a result, public equity funds flew off the shelf last year. Many of the buyers were young and knew little about how the capital market works.
As the A-share index collapsed, funds that invested heavily in the stock market slumped as well. As institutions pull the plug, youngsters get stuck, but it didn’t seem to bother them at all. On social media sites, the most searched term is still equity fund.
On Xiaohongshu, an e-commerce social media platform popular for its beauty content, finance bloggers emerged. They “share” their experiences in equity funds and teach people how to make money like they did. On Bilibili, an animation site, clicks on videos with financial content rose more than five-fold in 2020.
These bloggers typically lead viewers to their WeChat groups where they are invited to pay for “further instructions.” Jiemian News found bloggers on various platforms often led to the same agency. But the days of slick bloggers versus young suckers may be numbered, as authorities clamp down on uncertified financial consultations. China Securities Regulatory Commission said making people pay to learn how to invest or for equity tips online, whether via a video or a short story, can be illegal.
A Bilibili blogger with over 700,000 followers said the website told him to stop uploading finance content unless he has a CFA certificate.
