BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s internet regulator said on Friday the recently published rules governing financial information providers are aimed at firms supplying information to an institutional audience and to specific investors, rather than the general public.

Financial information services are different from internet news and information services, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said in a statement on its website.

The CAC issued on Wednesday new regulations for domestic financial information providers, in an apparent crackdown on online content deemed detrimental to the country’s financial stability as the economy slows.

Financial information providers are not allowed to distort Chinese fiscal and monetary policies, disturb economic order or to harm the nation’s interests, the CAC said then.

Service providers being targeted include those involved in financial analysis, financial trading and financial decision-making, but do not include foreign wire services.

The regulations are due to take effect on Feb. 1.

In recent years, domestic financial information service providers have developed rapidly, and some of them are not stringent on content, speculating on financial market risks, publishing sensitive market information and distorting financial regulatory policies, the CAC said on Friday.

Financial information services mainly refer to the provision of information and statistics, rather than financial services like deposit and loan services, securities transactions, insurance purchases, fund deals, bond transactions, and foreign exchange trading, the CAC said.