BEIJING, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's securities regulator said four people have been fined for spreading rumors about the regulator's policies and tasks for this year.

The rumors appeared on Jan. 28 and claimed Yi Huiman, head of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), chaired a press conference.

The rumors claimed Yi said at the conference that the main tasks for 2019 are to implement a short selling mechanism, improve the delisting system, ensure companies committing financial fraud have nowhere to hide, and encourage insurance funds and bank financing funds to invest in the stock market to maintain the stability of the capital market.

From the night of Jan. 28, the rumor spread through Sina Weibo accounts and many other media. After the opening of trading on Jan. 29, the benchmark index on the Shanghai bourse and the Shenzhen bourse dropped by up to 1.3 percent and 1.83 percent, respectively, according to the CSRC.

After statements were made to dispel the rumors, the decreases narrowed gradually, according to the CSRC.

After investigation, Chen Yiheng, who first fabricated the rumors, was fined 200,000 yuan (28,571 U.S. dollars).

Three other people were fined 120,000 yuan respectively, for posting the rumors, causing the rumors to rapidly spread among a remarkable number of readers.