China's securities watchdog has fined the Shanghai-listed Hangxiao Steel Structure 400,000 yuan (51,948 U.S. dollars) for falsely boosting share prices by "releasing information that contains misleading content".

After an investigation spanning 22 working days, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) penalized the steel structure construction firm, which was suspected of stock price rigging by announcing contracts for work in Angola worth 4.4 billion U.S. dollars.

Company chairman Shan Yinmu and president Zhou Jinfa have been issued warnings and each fined 200,000 yuan (25,974 U.S. dollars).

Three others -- board secretary Pan Jinshui, general manager Lu Yongjun, and securities representative Luo Gaofeng -- were each fined 100,000 yuan (12,987 U.S. dollars).

Commission sources say that was the first case handled by the CSRC since Jan. 30 when it implemented the regulations on information releases by listed companies.

Hangxiao Steel Structure published a public apology on Sunday, saying the company would learn from the case, strictly observe the laws and regulations and prevent other such incidents.

The company also announced it had received the written administrative penalty from the CSRC at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday.

The share price of the Zhejiang-based firm saw sharp unexplained rises after Feb. 12 until it announced on March 13, that it had signed a contract worth 34.4 billion yuan with Hong Kong-based China International Fund Ltd. for a construction project in Angola.

The announcement prompted further rises on most days to the daily limit of 10 percent until April 2 when the CSRC launched an investigation.

Source: Xinhua