Chinese prosecutors say two men have been sentenced to jail for deliberately leaking sensitive financial data before it was released to the public.

The data, such as inflation and trade statistics, was leaked to securities industry insiders who were able to use the information to anticipate changes in stock and bond prices.

Officials said Sun Zhen, a former secretary in the National Bureau of Statistics, leaked 27 items of data between June 2009 and January of this year. He was sentenced to six years in prison.

Wu Chaoming, a researcher with an agency of the People’s Bank of China, leaked 25 items of data and was sentenced to five years in jail.

A senior official in the prosecutors’ office said the leaks undermined fair competition in financial markets and affected the government’s credibility.

He said the illegal leaks caused serious harm to both the country and to individuals.

Market analysts in Hong Kong were quoted by Bloomberg news agency saying the sentences were unexpectedly severe, but welcome.

The analysts noted that economic data can have a substantial impact on market prices in China, now the world’s third-largest equities market.