Late on Thursday, it was announced that China's securities regulator was investigating the country's largest brokerage, Citic Securities. The firm is being probed over the possible breaking of market rules.
周四，有消息称中国证监会正在调查这次的全国跌得最厉害的中信证券。这家公司很可能受贿，打破了市场规则。
Rival brokerage Guosen Securities is also being investigated, and shares in both Citic and Guosen fell by 10%, the maximum allowed in one day. In addition, trading in China Haitong Securities shares was halted and later in the day the firm also confirmed it was under investigation.
竞争对手国信证券也被调查，中信证券和国信证券的股票纷纷跌停至10%。另外，海通证券停牌，晚些时候被证明也在接受调查。
Chen Xingyu, an analyst at Phillip Securities, told the AFP news agency: "The biggest reason for such a sudden drop today is because of regulator's investigation of the top brokers. It has triggered a broader sell-off."
辉立证券的分析师陈星宇告诉法新社记者：“今天这样突然的暴跌是因为证监会对大型券商的调查。这引发了大规模的证券抛售。”
Analysts said there was little information on the specific reasons for the probes other than violations of securities regulations.
分析师说目前除了违反证券法规还没有对关于受贿的具体消息。

But the Reuters news agency reported that the Chinese regulator was urging brokerages to stop financing investors' stock purchases through swaps in an attempt to curb leveraged trading.
但是路透社报道称中国证监会在督促停止融资交易类互换以抑制杠杆交易。
A crackdown on leveraged and margin trading has been underway since the Chinese market's dramatic plunge over the summer.
对杠杆和保证金交易的打击自从夏天的时候中国市场大幅跳水就开始了。
Market sentiment was already wavering ahead of a new batch of initial public offerings set to make their debut next week.
在下周的新一批的首次公开募股公开亮相之前，市场气氛已经动摇了。
More negative economic data on the Chinese economy also did little to boost investors' confidence, with government figures showing that industrial profits in October fell 4.6% from a year ago.
越来越多的中国经济负面数据也有一些打击投资者的信心，政府统计数字显示十月的工业利润较一年前降低了4.6%。
The fifth consecutive decline in profits earned by Chinese industrial companies added more fuel to concerns over a slowdown in the world's second-largest economy.
中国工业企业的第五次利润连续下滑增加了人们对世界第二大经济体发展减速的担忧。
"Surplus inventory is the ghost which is haunting profits," economists from Minsheng Securities said in a note. "The road ahead to destocking inventory is long and slow."
“剩余库存是最影响利润的，”民生证券的经济学家在一份报告中说道。“向库存清空发展的道路还很漫长。”
The bad news spilled over to Hong Kong, where the benchmark Hang Seng index finished down 1.9% at 22,068.32. The index fell 3% over the week, its worst weekly performance for two months.
坏消息也影响到了香港，恒生指数收盘时下跌1.9%，报22068.32点。恒生指数本周已经下跌3%，是近两月来的最大周线跌幅。