The Chinese government has detained 197 people that it says stoked panic and disorder in connection with the country's calamitous market crash, as well as the recent explosion at Tianjin, according to NPR. Specifically, the arrests were for spreading rumors that "caused panic, misled the public and resulted in disorders in stock market or society," said NPR, quoting the Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency. 

The BBC said the arrests are part of a decision by the Chinese government to, at least for now, cease efforts to shore up the economy and instead seek to punish those it feels are destabilizing the stock market. 

Among those arrested, according to Reuters, was a reporter with a prominent business magazine, Cajing, named Wang Xialu, who, after his detention, confessed to writing stories about the Chinese stock market which, allegedly, were based on hearsay and subjective guesses that resulted in huge losses on the country and investors. Also arrested was Liu Shufan, an official with the China Securities Regulatory Commission, over accusations of bribery, fraud and under-the-table deals, as well as four senior executives from a major Chinese investment bank, Citic Securities, who were accused of insider trading, according to CNN Money. They, too, have signed confessions confirming the charges against them.