Maybe China thought no one would notice that it just killed the biggest stock futures market in the world
After the government started investigating short positions, raised margin requirements, and tightened position limits, volume in the country's two stock index futures markets plunged around 99%, Bloomberg's Kyoungwha Kim? reports.
So it's basically gone.
Back in July, the World Federation of Exchanges ranked China's two futures markets - CSI 300 Index and CSI 500 Index - the most active in the world. These markets were key to investors because they allowed day trading. That made them ideal for investors looking to hedge positions in choppy markets.
China's stock markets crashed twice this summer, first on June 12th and then again on August 17th. Since then, the Shanghai Composite, the larger of the country's two markets, has returned almost all of its gains for the year.
On both occasions Chinese officials pulled out all the stops to end the carnage - they halted IPOs and new share issues, started investigating "malicious" participants in the market, and have pumped about $240 billion into the stock market since June.
Investors, however, seem unimpressed, especially since China's real economy is faltering at the same time. Exports, industrial production, manufacturing, and property markets - all drivers of the Chinese economy - are all suffering.
What's unclear is whether or not Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will address this crisis in the coming days when he speaks in Dalian at was has come to be known as "Summer Davos." He hasn't said a word directly yet.
The conference, The World Economic Formum's "Annual Meeting of the New Champions" was launched by Li's predecessor, Wen Jibao. Wen famously once said that "sometimes confidence is more important than gold in the market."
So maybe Li will just maintain what he said last year, that the Chinese economy is resilient and prepared for lower growth.
That's got to be hard to do when you've got a stock market like the one you see below.
