Some observors say that China's sudden stock market drop at the end of February helped create a global stock sell off. Observors suggest state interference either helped to create the panic or the undercover buying by them helped restore the markets.

Because of listing both in Shanghai and Hong Kong stock markets, rumours good or bad that eminate from the mainland can quickly leap to HongKong and create a stir in markets in the rest of the world.  However, investment in Chinese companies by large western institutions has been limited due in the main to the lack of transparency in Chinese business dealings.