China’s stock market regulator began its most recent press briefing with a telling instruction for the mostly local journalists in attendance. “We have a requirement concerning speculative reports,” said the China Securities Regulatory Commission. “They must first be confirmed by the CSRC in order to prevent the spread of false information and market disturbance.”

The warning was a reminder that as a “national team” comprised of largely state-owned entities struggles to shore up China’s slumping stock market, the government is orchestrating an equally important cheerleading campaign involving a broad array of state media outlets.

Illustrating just how delicate investor sentiment remains despite the government’s all-out propaganda war, the Shanghai Composite Index experienced the second-largest points fall in its 25-year history on the first trading day after CSRC’s remarks. The 8.5 per cent fall on July 27 left the SCI just 200 points above 3,500 — the level at which the government’s rescue effort began in earnest on July 8.