China Business Network (CBN) recently reported that the Chinese Internet regulatory authorities have decided to close down all bitcoin exchange platforms operating in China and put them out of the market. According to a government-issued risk advisory, all these Internet-based virtual currencies (“coins”) and their exchange platforms were established without having a Chinese legal basis. They are rapidly growing into channels for money laundering, drug-dealing and smuggling. China has been investigating the virtual currencies since the beginning of the year, starting in Beijing and Shanghai. The government also met with the owners of all the Chinese virtual currency platforms. The investigation showed all these platforms failed to meet financial regulatory requirements and caused major market fluctuations. According to recent statistics, the vast majority of the global Bitcoin trading transactions occurred in China. As of the beginning of this year, the three major Chinese Bitcoin trading platforms carried 98 percent of the global volume. The trading volume saw a sharp decline after the Chinese authorities intervened. On September 4, the Chinese central bank announced that Initial Coin Offering (ICO) activities are illegal. Very recently, the Chinese government decided to ban all virtual currencies in China.
Source: China Business Network, September 14, 2017
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