Three leading Chinese bitcoin exchanges have decided to charge fees for bitcoin and Litecoin trading, starting today, January 24.

The move comes as the exchanges – BTCC, Huobi and OKCoin – seek to “curb speculation” and “prevent price volatility”. According to BTCChina’s official announcement:

“To further curb market manipulation and extreme volatility, BTCChina will start charging fees for bitcoin and litecoin trading from 12:00 p.m. (noon) UTC+8 on Tuesday, January 24th. Market makers and takers will both be charged a flat fee of 0.2 percent per transaction.”

BTCChina clarified that users will only be charged a trading fee when their order is executed (filled). If they cancel they order before it is executed, then they won't be charged a trading fee. Furthermore, the trading fees will be deducted from their target currency. For example, if a user is buying bitcoins with CNY, the trading fee is deducted from the bitcoins they are buying. If they are selling bitcoins for CNY, the trading fee is deducted from the CNY they will obtain after selling the bitcoins.

The announcement comes as the People’s Bank of China ramped up its efforts to ensure regulatory compliance by the bitcoin exchanges operating the country. Recently, these three exchanges also ended margin trading.

Speaking with CoinDesk, BTCC CEO Bobby Lee said that the decision represents a recognition by exchanges that the PBoC was concerned about prices rising "too high, too fast", and that this, as well as suspicions it may be used for capital flight, helped spark the action.

"The regulators have their opinion, they want more real volume. We got together to be one step ahead," Lee said.

He further said that as bitcoin is not yet regulated in China, the PBoC is also fairly restrained in how to oversee the nascent industry.

Huobi told CoinDesk that majority of its customers understood the reason behind the decision and that it met customer expectations.