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The WeChat message, seen by Reuters at 2:41
p.m., was bang on the money; it said China would cut interest
rates by 25 basis points and raise the ceiling for deposit rates
to 1.5 times the benchmark.
The information was attributed to the People's Bank of China (PBOC),
and the WeChat message, which redirected readers to an anonymous
web page, did not carry the central bank logo or any official
government stamp.
When the real announcement was released shortly after 5 p.m.
local time, it matched word for word.
In China, information often leaks ahead of official
announcements, and as the world's second-biggest economy, that
can swing financial markets at home and abroad.
Song Qinghui, a prominent financial news commentator in China,
said he had seen the leak "exploding" in WeChat circles as early
as Sunday morning.
"There are so many such leaks in China. Although offenders can
be sentenced to the stiffest possible punishment, no one
investigates the leaks," Song said.
The central bank and TenCent Holdings <0700.HK>, which owns and
runs WeChat, were not immediately available for comment.
China has tried to deter such leaks. An employee at a Chinese
asset management firm and a researcher at the central bank were
jailed for up to six years in 2012 when they were found to have
orchestrated leaks of market-moving economic figures.
While monthly releases of economic data are no longer leaked as
they were in 2008, sometimes days in advance, screenshots of
official documents with policy announcements still find their
way online in advance.
Just this month, news that China will more than triple the
number of state firms allowed to trade commodity derivatives was
leaked when pictures of part of the official document announcing
the change were posted on the Internet.
"From a fairness point of view, policies need to be kept a
secret because there is definitely a first-mover's advantage in
the short-term," said Zhou Hao, an economist at ANZ Bank in
Shanghai.
Ironically, the effect of such leaks can be blunted by the fact
that mainland financial markets are riddled with rumor.
Another WeChat message that went around on Sunday had falsely
said the PBOC would cut rates by 50 basis points later that day.
(Additional reporting by Paul Carsten and the Beijing Newsroom;
Editing by Will Waterman)
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