Leading Chinese economic commentator Ren Zeping’s social media account restricted

Ren has previously courted controversy with his outspoken comments about finance and policy

A prominent Chinese economist’s social media channel has been restricted as Beijing steps up regulatory scrutiny of financial market influencers.

Chinese internet users on Saturday noticed that the WeChat account of Ren Zeping, known for his outspoken comments on investments and policies, had been stopped from gaining new followers and a member of his team said posting had been suspended.

Clicking the follow button generated a message saying “this account cannot be followed due to its violation of rules” and it did not appear when the name was searched for.

New rules aimed at curbing unapproved financial marketing have driven numerous financial influencers offline.