New govt measures to boost confidence

・ The People's Bank of China will provide ample liquidity to help stabilize the stock market. It will work with China Securities Finance Corp Ltd, the State-owned margin lender, to obtain liquidity through loans and bonds. The PBOC says it will do whatever it can to prevent systemic risks.

・ The China Insurance Regulatory Commission has increased the limits for insurers to invest in blue-chip stocks from 5 percent to 10 percent of their total assets. Qualified insurers can also increase the ratio of their equity assets from 30 percent to 40 percent of their total assets.

・ The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, the State assets regulator, has urged the 112 central State-owned enterprises to buy more shares in their companies.

・ The China Securities Regulatory Commission has prohibited major shareholders and senior executives of listed companies from selling stocks in their own firms for at least six months.

・ China Financial Futures Exchange has substantially raised the margin requirement for futures trading on the CSI 500 that tracks small and mid-cap stocks to 30 percent to curb speculative short selling.

・ China Securities Finance Corp Ltd has granted loans of 260 billion yuan ($42.1 billion) through stock collateral to 21 brokerage firms to allow them to buy more shares.

・ The Ministry of Finance has encouraged State-owned financial firms to increase their holdings in listed companies when prices are at reasonable levels. It has also promised not to reduce its holdings in Chinese shares during market volatility.

・ Central Huijin Investment Ltd, the investment arm of the country's sovereign wealth fund, has promised not to reduce its stock holdings.