With a drop of about 20 percent in the past month, the country's stock market has disappointed investors who regarded it as a barometer of the national economy.

If the authorities really mean to make the stock market an important source of people's income from property, they have to fix this dysfunctional barometer as soon as possible.

Chinese investors have a lot to worry about the health of the economy. And it is no coincidence that the stock market began diving about a month ago immediately after the central government announced the most draconian measures yet to cool the property market. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index has turned remarkably bearish since mid-April.