XI’S GOTTA HAVE IT: China’s Stock-Market Rout Has Become a Political Problem.

The State Council, the country’s top government body, said Monday that authorities should take stronger and more effective measures to stabilize markets and boost confidence. It called for better regulations, more transparency and an attempt to improve the quality of listed companies.

The cabinet meeting, which analysts said was a direct response to the stock market selloff, was chaired by Chinese Premier Li Qiang—the country’s No. 2 leader. It led to speculation that China is planning a big stimulus package to boost the stock market, although market participants said the details are murky.

Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index rallied in response, closing the day up 2.6%—its best performance this year. In mainland China, the CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indexes also closed slightly higher.

The meeting came days after stock analysts noticed another sign of strong government support: a rash of buying by the so-called national team, a group of state-linked firms that Beijing sometimes pushes to buy shares and other assets. The national team is typically defined by analysts to include insurers, pension funds and China’s sovereign-wealth fund.

What’s the Mandarin for “quantitative easing?”