By Dhirendra Tripathi

Investing.com – ADRs and stocks of Chinese companies traded weaker as China’s cyber regulatory body issued draft rules Wednesday that, if implemented, will mean a heavier compliance burden for apps whose functions are perceived as influencing public opinion.

In an unrelated development, but one which still reflects the tightening of oversight of China’s internet giants, the country’s markets regulator fined units of Alibaba Bilibili, (NASDAQ:), Tencent Holdings and Tencent Holdings were criticized for their failure to report on a dozen of the deals.

These twin developments occurred at a moment when “long-duration” tech stocks, whose profitability tends toward long-term tem, are being under pressure due to higher U.S. rates. China’s tech sector can only be partially protected by the fact its central bank in China currently eases monetary policy.

Meituan Stock (HK:), dropped 11.2% while Tencent Holdings, (OTC) fell 4.3%. Alibaba ADRs trade 1.4% lower premarket. Pinduoduo Bilibili (NASDAQ:) were also less strong in the premarket, with each falling by approximately 3%. Didi ADRs (NYSE:) fell 1.4%.

The public is expected to submit its views on Cyberspace Administration of China’s proposals by January 20.

According to Reuters, the proposal by the requires application providers to conduct a security evaluation before launching any “new technologies or new applications” that could influence public opinion.

Additionally, the regulator stated that apps providers should not engage in activities that threaten national security and force users into sharing unimportant personal details.

It stated that news apps need to obtain licences in order to be able publish information.

CAC published new rules Tuesday tightening regulation for platform companies that have more than one million registered users. Next month, this norm will be in effect.

These new rules follow a number of measures that the Chinese authorities took over the past year to safeguard data about their citizens. They aren’t comfortable sharing this information with foreign regulators like the U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission. This concern led to Didi’s delisting from NYSE. In addition, Didi and the various apps had to cease accepting new customers until security audits of their data handling procedures were completed.