The Hang Seng index had also fallen 12% to its lowest level in six years in the last three trading sessions.
After this battering, in a rare direct move to calm investors’ nerves, Beijing on Wednesday vowed to maintain financial stability and boost economic growth.
“We must implement the decisions and arrangements of the central leadership and give a substantial boost to the economy in the first quarter,” a key government committee said in a statement, quoted by state-run news agency Xinhua.
According to a statement from China’s Financial Stability Committee, chaired by Vice Premier Liu He, President Xi Jinping’s top economic adviser, government departments should “actively roll out policies that benefit the market”.
The statement also said that Chinese and US regulators have made “positive progress” on the issue of US-listed Chinese shares, and that Beijing will continue to support Chinese IPOs overseas.
It said regulators should “completely complete” action on China’s major internet platform companies as soon as possible.
“China’s top leaders break their silence to respond to the recent market sell-off,” Larry Hu, chief economist for Greater China at Macquarie Group, wrote on Wednesday. “The tone of the meeting is strong, indicating that policymakers are deeply concerned about the recent market downturn,” he said.
China on Tuesday eased some COVID-related policies on isolation and testing, helping lift market sentiment.
It is necessary to quarantine for 14 days even after positive case before change Two negative PCR tests. The new guidelines now allow seven days of isolation at home after patients are discharged.
Global markets were also helped by a fall in oil prices on Wednesday. China is the world’s largest energy importer.
— CNN’s Beijing bureau contributed to this report.