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BEIJING—China's government stripped a prominent and outspoken businessman of his social media accounts after he issued a rare direct challenge to President Xi Jinping over the loyalties of state-controlled news media.

Real estate mogul Ren Zhiqiang, a politically connected former soldier, was a social media star in China, celebrated online for his business acumen and sharp tongue. His verified account on Weibo Corp.'s Twitter-like social media site attracted more than 37 million followers, until it was shut off on Sunday.

The Cyberspace Administration of China, the main Internet regulator, said in a statement posted online that Mr. Ren's Weibo account and another account of his on a similar site run by Tencent Holdings Ltd. were ordered closed because he had used them to "publish illegal information, which had a negative impact."

The Cyberspace Administration said providers of Internet services and Internet users both needed to "improve their self-discipline and consciousness of the bottom line."

The statement didn't specify which of Mr. Ren's writings were illegal. In an email, Weibo spokesman Gong Min declined to discuss the specifics of Mr. Ren's case, saying the company "will fully comply with Chinese laws and regulations."

Calls to the regulator rang unanswered and Tencent didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Reached by phone Sunday, Mr. Ren confirmed his social media accounts were closed but declined to comment further.

The shuttering of Mr. Ren's accounts comes amid a campaign by Chinese authorities to further tighten controls on speech and public discourse. Traditional media, social media, academics and teachers have all been urged in recent months to cleave closer to the ruling Communist Party as the country enters an uncertain period of slowing economic growth.

Earlier this month, Mr. Xi visited three of the most authoritative outlets among party-controlled media and convened a forum during which he demanded that news media serve the party's interests. "Journalistic work by the party's news media should reflect the party's will and views, protect the authority of the central party leadership, and preserve the party's unity," he was quoted as saying by China Central Television, one of the outlets he visited.

A party member whose father was a senior official, Mr. Ren is known as "Cannon Ren" online for his outspoken views on topics ranging from real estate to politics. On the day of Mr. Xi's tour of party media, Mr. Ren fired off a pair of Weibo posts challenging the Chinese leader's views.

"Since when did the people's government become the party's government? Does the money they spend come from party dues?" he wrote in one of the posts, referring to the funding of state-run media outlets. "Don't go using taxpayer money to do things that aren't in service of taxpayers."

When the media are loyal first to the party and don't represent the interests of the people, he wrote in the other post, "then the people will be abandoned in a forgotten corner."

Since those postings, Mr. Ren, who recently retired as chairman of Huayuan Property Co., has been drawing sharp criticism from party-controlled media. Some described him as "anti-party" and sparked some calls for him to be stripped of his membership. Messages in support of Mr. Ren were rapidly deleted from social media sites.

Mr. Ren's willingness to challenge Mr. Xi directly reflects an increasing frustration both in public and inside and outside the Communist Party with the Chinese leader's tightening of controls, said Xiao Qiang, a scholar who studies Chinese Internet and censorship at the University of California, Berkeley.

"There are more and more online voices publicly and directly going after him in past weeks. Ren is not the first, but certainly is the most influential voice among them," Mr. Xiao said.

Li Yuan contributed to this article.

Write to Josh Chin at josh.chin@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 28, 2016 21:45 ET (02:45 GMT)

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