Chinas Weibo shares tumble 9% after regulator slaps fine on social media giants operator – CNBC

China’s Weibo app on a mobile phone.

Brent Lewin | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese social networking giant Weibo tumbled more than 9% on Tuesday, as its operator was fined three million yuan ($471,151) by regulators.

The Cyberspace Administration of China said on its official WeChat account that it fined Weibo’s operator BJ Weimeng Innovation and Technology Company because some accounts and content violated relevant laws and regulations.

Weibo has faced 44 fines totaling 14.3 million yuan ($2.24 million) in the period from January to November this year, according to the regulator.

Since Weibo’s secondary listing in Hong Kong last week, the stock has lost over 10%. Its Nasdaq-listed shares tumbled 6% overnight on Wall Street, and plunged over 26% year-to-date.

Responding to the fine, Weibo said it will put in place the necessary rectification, exercise its responsibility, and keep improving its governance, according to a CNBC translation.

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Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi said earlier this month that it will start delisting from the New York Stock Exchange, and make plans to list in Hong Kong instead. Regulators reportedly want Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi to delist from the New York Stock Exchange because of concerns about leakage of sensitive data.

As tensions between the U.S. and China grew, former U.S. President Donald Trump took steps toward removing U.S. investment in Chinese companies, especially those deemed to have alleged ties to the Chinese military.

— CNBC’s Iris Wang, Evelyn Cheng contributed to this report.

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