China's securities regulator said Friday that it had punished individuals and firms involved in seven cases of stock market violations.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) decided to impose total fines of 43.28 million yuan (6.77 million U.S. dollars) on three individuals, four companies and four legal representatives of companies in the seven cases, in which illegal share-holding reduction, illegal short-term trading and information disclosure were conducted, said Zhang Xiaojun, spokesman of the CSRC.

Up to now, the CSRC has dealt out punishments in 33 such cases.

The commission will continue to crack down on violations in the securities market to protect investors' interests, Zhang said.