shares of chinese online health companies dropped sharply in afternoon trade in hong kong as a local newspaper report triggered worries about the impact of new industry regulations on the sectors growth alibaba health information technology ltd lost as much as 17 after opening down 29 jd health international inc shed 16 while ping an healthcare  technology co dropped 68 the sectors selloff came after a chinese newspaper 21st century business herald published a story on wednesday analyzing the potential negative impact from a draft rule that would prevent thirdparty ecommerce platforms from selling drugs directly to consumers online but analysts said the proposed rule if implemented is unlikely to cause substantial disruptions for major industry players  we believe this would have minimal operational impact on internet healthcare leaders such as alibaba health and ping an healthcare citi analysts said in a note on wednesday adding that these companies thirdparty businesses dont participate in direct online drug sales and thus already comply with the proposed regulations the new rule was part of a set of proposed changes to regulations for pharmaceutical development registration and sales by chinas national medical products administration in early may the regulator sought public feedback on the proposal for a month and the consultation period ended in early june before wednesdays slide chinas internet health companies have been picking up amid a broad recovery in the countrys tech stocks excluding wednesday losses alibaba health were about 39 higher so far in june while jd health and ping an were respectively up 26 and 76 this month