Company officials scrambled to reassure investors. Both firms issued statements through the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong on the weekend of Nov. 25 declaring that they had not received any formal notification from the MII regarding the fee changes. This had little effect. Share prices continued to drop. By Nov. 30, China Mobile s shares had fallen by 17 percent, China Unicom s by 28 percent.
Analysts react While stock prices sank, many analysts urged investors to buy.
Investors finally took heed on Nov. 30 China Mobile and China Unicom shares rose slightly that day. But it wasn t until after Minister Wu spoke that investors started to buy in force.