China’s premier Li Qiang orders authorities to attract long-term capital to stabilise stock market

The meeting chaired by Li was the clearest sign of the government’s attempt at putting a floor on plunging stock markets on the mainland and Hong Kong, which have lost more than US$1 trillion in combined capitalisation so far this year, according to Bloomberg’s data.

Hang Seng slips below 15,000 towards 15-month low as AIA, Tencent pace losses

The Hang Seng Index slid 2.3 per cent to 14,961.18 on Monday, a psychological threshold seen during the October 2022 slump, before China abandoned its zero-Covid policy the following month. The Hang Seng Tech Index sank 3 per cent.

All but three out of the 82 index members dropped. Tencent tumbled 3.3 per cent to HK$262.20, Meituan lost 4.7 per cent to HK$65.40 and Baidu dropped 3.6 per cent to HK$95.60, leading steep declines among Chinese tech leaders yesterday. China Resources Land crashed 11 per cent to HK$20.50, and peer Longfor retreated 10 per cent to HK$7.92 in Hong Kong.

On the mainland’s bourses, the declines were sharper on Monday. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 2.7 per cent to a level not seen since April 2020, while the all-share Shenzhen Composite Index plunged 4.5 per cent.