China analyst leaves state-owned brokerage after bearish commentaries

BOCOM International Holdings

04/05/2022 09:50

By Xie Yu
    HONG KONG, May 4 (Reuters) - Hong Hao, a managing director
and head of research at Bank of Communications International
Holdings Co (BoCom International), has left the brokerage, a
spokesperson for the firm told Reuters on Wednesday.
    The departure of the Hong Kong-based Hong, one of the most
prominent and outspoken China market analysts, comes just days
after he was censored on social media platforms following a
series of downbeat commentaries.
    BoCom International is the securities unit of Bank of
Communications Co, one of China's biggest state-owned banks.
    The Chinese social media accounts of Hong were suspended
over the weekend after the commentaries and a slump in mainland
equities to two-year lows on COVID-19 lockdowns and global
political tensions.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2WT04N
    "Mr. Hong Hao has resigned due to personal reasons," said a
spokesperson for the brokerage, declining to elaborate. 
    Hong, who has been one of the most high-profile commentators
of China's economy, markets and policies and made frequent
appearances in the international media, did not reply to Reuters
calls and messages seeking comments.
    Negative comments by analysts and commentators in China are
often censored and have come under increased scrutiny as its
economy and markets encounter headwinds in a year in which
President Xi Jinping is widely expected to secure a
precedent-breaking third leadership term in the autumn.
    Hong had predicted in his social media accounts in March
this year that the Shanghai Composite Index  .SSEC  might trade
below 3,000 points in a worst-case scenario. It fell below that
level last week, before recovering to close at 3,047 points on
Friday ahead of a long public holiday.
    He had also attributed the sell-off in U.S.-listed Chinese
companies to China's crackdown on technology companies rather
than U.S. audit rules, and had criticised China's zero-Covid
policies.
    Hong's WeChat account has been suspended since last week.
WeChat said it was due to unspecified violations of its rules.
His account on Twitter-like microblog Weibo has also vanished
since Saturday.
    WeChat and Weibo representatives did not immediately respond
to emailed requests for comment on Wednesday.
    For his Twitter account, Hong, who joined BoCom
International in 2012, has changed his profile to say "Ex BoCom
Int'l".
    Two research notes issued by him in the last two months
discussed the risks of a capital flight from China and looming
delisting risks of Chinese companies listed in the United
States. Online versions of the two reports mailed earlier to
media remained blocked as of Wednesday.

 (Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee and Jacqueline Wong)
 ((Yu.Xie@thomsonreuters.com;))