China quietly restricting new investment business creation

Chinese authorities are quietly halting the creation of new investment businesses––including those backed by big foreign firms––as officials scramble to handle a rash of local failures that have left millions of mom-and-pop investors facing potential losses, The Wall Street Journal says. The Shanghai branch of the regulator in charge of approving new business applications––the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, or SAIC––recently told agents in the city who handle those applications that it will refuse those that seem investment-related, say agents, lawyers and consultants. The SAIC has given similar directions to registration agents in Beijing.