China has jailed two officials from the state bank and national statistics bureau for leaking sensitive economic data to securities brokers, prosecutors said Monday
Sun Zhen, a former secretary at the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), and Wu Chaoming, once a researcher at the People's Bank of China, were sentenced to five and six years respectively.
Both were found guilty of revealing state secrets, said Li Zhongcheng, an official with the state prosecution service.
The cases highlight the intense secrecy with which China's ruling Communist Party treats even economic data.
The world's second-largest economy, a key driver of global growth, is closely monitored by investment banks and governments around the world and Chinese economic data often moves financial markets.
Getting the information before it was officially announced allowed companies to profit from the resulting market moves, and forced China to tighten security and alter the way it releases key data.
Li said the jailed pair leaked a slew of market sensitive information, including China's official inflation and economic growth figures, to securities firms between June 2009 and January this year.
The two men were "driven by profits" and either tipped off brokers or received fees for attending seminars and other events organised by the firms, said Du Yongsheng, spokesman for the National Administration for the Protection of State Secrets.
The statistics bureau said in July it would release economic data within 24 hours of their compilation, instead of a fixed date every month, and reduce the number of people allowed access to the information.
Neither of the men has appealed, Li said, adding that four other people involved in the case — all employees of securities firms — were under investigation.
"The leaking of national macroeconomic data harmed economic operations, undermined fair market competition and compromised government credibility," he said.
