CITIC analyst suspected of insider trading

China's top securities regulator said Friday that it had launched an investigation into an analyst at a leading brokerage firm for allegedly leaking insider information.

The news was unveiled by Zhang Xiaojun, spokesman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), which was quoted by its official weibo account.

Zhang Mingfang, a securities analyst at CITIC securities, had reportedly posted the equity incentive plans of the management of Livzon Pharmaceutical Group on a private messaging group for institutional investors, resulting in sharp increase of the company's share prices.

The spokesman did not give details about the investigation.

This is seen by market observers as part of the efforts by securities regulator to step up fight against illegal trading activities in a stock market where confidence has been low partially due to rampant insider trading activities.