China’s securities regulators are taking aim at automated trading in shares, part of Beijing’s campaign to restrain stock market volatility by intensifying pressure on the financial industry.

中国证券监管机构开始瞄准股票程序化交易，这是中国政府加大对金融行业施压以抑制股市波动性的做法之一。

The market watchdog, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, issued broad guidelines on so-called “programme trading” on Friday, and China’s two main stock exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen followed up with new draft rules on computerised automated trading.

中国证监会(CSRC)上周五发布了《证券期货市场程序化交易管理办法（征求意见稿）》，随后，上海和深圳两大证交所出台了有关程序化交易的管理实施细则草案。

Chinese regulators have already targeted high-frequency traders as part of an attack on price manipulation, which they blame for turmoil that has seen the Shanghai composite index fall by nearly 40 per cent since hitting a seven-year high on June 12.

为了打压价格操纵，中国监管机构已经瞄准了高频交易者，认为他们是上证综指在6月12日达到七年高点之后股市出现混乱、上证综指下跌近40%的罪魁祸首。

As the stock market turbulence has also fuelled worries about the stability of the broader financial system, Beijing has implemented a wide range of measures to halt the slide in shares, including turning up the heat on market participants.

由于股市动荡也令人们更加担心总体金融体系的稳定性，中国政府已实施了旨在止住股市跌势的一系列措施，包括对市场参与者施加更大压力。

Senior officials at the CSRC have been detained and top executives of Citic Securities, China’s largest investment bank, have been arrested as part of a crackdown on stock market irregularities. Authorities have also cracked down on “malicious” short sellers.

在整顿股市不规范行为的过程中，中国证监会的一些高级官员被拘留，中国最大券商中信证券(Citic Securities)的顶级高管被逮捕。中国当局还打击“恶意”做空者。

The newly released regulations turn the spotlight on computerised trading on the grounds that it amplifies gains and losses.

新发布的监管规定集中整顿程序化交易，理由是这类交易放大了收益和亏损。

“The regulator has previously stated that program trading, a computerised automated trading scheme used by investors to trade large quantities of shares, can sometimes be abused to bring more volatility to the market and contributed to the recent collapse of Chinese stocks,” state news agency Xinhua said in its report.

官方的新华社报道称，证监会此前曾表示，程序化交易，也就是投资者用以交易大量股票的一种计算机化的自动交易，有时候可能会被滥用，使市场发生更大的波动，助长了近期中国股市的下跌。

The draft rules, which have been released for public comment, do not ban high-frequency trading outright but tighten regulation of it, said people in the industry.

业内人士表示，已发布向社会公开征求意见的管理新规并未完全禁止高频交易，但收紧了对高频交易的监管。

Under the draft regulations, the Shanghai stock exchange would intervene should automated trading “bring chaos to the market”, Xinhua said. Intervention could range from limiting trading on certain accounts to temporarily shutting down the market.

新华社称，按照法规草案，如果程序化交易“给市场带来混乱”，上交所将进行干预。干预手段可能从限制某些账户的交易到临时关闭市场。

Among the new rules are requirements that traders have their high frequency trading strategies approved by regulators before they start using them. They also include “know your client” rules, in response to risks caused by grey-market margin financing, where fund-matching companies act as middlemen to allow dozens of clients to trade, using automated software.

根据监管新规，交易者在开始使用高频交易策略之前，必须先取得监管机构的批准。新规也包括“了解你的客户”规则，以应对灰色市场保证金交易引发的风险。在这类交易中，配资公司充当中介，允许很多客户使用自动化软件进行交易。

After opening a securities account at a brokerage, fund-matching companies use a program to divide the account into multiple sub-accounts, enabling their clients to trade independently. The draft rules order brokerages to restrict access to their accounts only to verified clients.

在券商开立一个证券账户之后，配资公司使用一种程序把该账户变成多个子账户，使客户得以独立交易。起草的新规命令券商仅允许经过验证的客户使用其账户。