Chinese media applauded the Chinese Securities Regulatory Commission for giving out on Friday the nation's biggest penalty ticket in almost a decade to a major financial service company.

The Shenzhen-based Ping An Securities Co was fined 76.65 million yuan ($12.5 million) for sponsoring in 2011 the initial public offering of Wanfu Biotechnology (Hunan) Agricultural Development Ltd, a company that has been exposed for having hugely exaggerated its business results.

The size of the fine was three times Ping An Securities' earnings from sponsoring the Wanfu IPO.