The confusion over China's cable television industry has deepened after an official said foreign investment in the sector would be banned.
The unidentified official quoted by Beijing-based China Securities was from the Film and Television Information Network Centre, a subsidiary of the regulator that advises the administration and helps build its networks.
The official said foreign investors in domestic cable-TV networks would soon face removal because of the nature of the broadcasting industry, a sensitive sector on which Beijing wanted to maintain a tight grip.
They would not be allowed to participate even after China joins the World Trade Organisation, he said.
Officials from the regulator would not comment.
The news came two days after the People's Daily - usually a reliable source on Beijing's policy intentions - said foreign investors would be allowed to engage in the so-called value-added telecommunications services through cable-TV networks.
Internet service is one example of the value-added services.
However, foreign investors are prohibited from transmitting TV programmes.
The confusion has sent the share price of locally listed Citic Pacific - one of the mainland's biggest foreign investors in cable-TV networks - falling for the third day in a row.
The events have highlighted the risks associated with foreign investment in China, with different government officials announcing different policy initiatives, often in their own interests.
This has been a particular problem for investors in the Internet, but also more recently for the telecoms sector, when confusion over mobile-phone billing arrangements depressed the share prices of China's two largest telecoms companies.
China Mobile, the mainland's biggest mobile-phone operator, has lost a fifth of its value since the news broke a week ago, while China Unicom, the No 2 telecoms operator, declined 28 per cent.
The fallout also helped persuade another mainland telecoms operator, Jitong Communications, to postpone its overseas listing.
