China shares continue to slide after historic sell-off

Shares in mainland China continued their slide on Tuesday, after a historic sell-off the previous day.

All green across the Shanghai boards - indicating losses in China

The Shanghai Composite fell by 4.3% to 3,567.38 points in early trade, after the index on Monday saw its biggest drop in eight years with an 8% tumble.

China has tried to calm investors by reassuring it would implement prudent monetary policy to stabilise markets.

The country's central bank said it would inject 50bn yuan (£5.2bn; $8.05bn) into the money markets.

The People's Bank of China also insisted that the country's main economic indicators were steadily improving.

The dramatic drop on Monday, though, had followed weak economic data on profit at Chinese industrial firms and a disappointing private factory sector survey on Friday.

Crackdown on 'malicious trading'

The regulating authority China Securities Finance Corporation (CSFC) also said there would be a crackdown on short selling.

"Any malicious trading will be investigated and severely punished," the CSFC warned in a statement.

But analysts are hesitant to take much confidence from those measures.

Evan Lucas, market strategist with trading firm IG said in a note that "clearly the Chinese markets are unable to support themselves".

"The mountain of leverage and the risks of margin calls are hitting market stability."

In Hong Kong's, the Hang Seng index followed the mainland's lead and was down by 0.5% to 24,229.47 points in early trade.

Mers outbreak 'over'

Elsewhere in Asia, stock took the cue from the poor performance on the Chinese mainland and also traded in negative territory.

Asia's largest stock market, Japan's Nikkei 225 was 1.1% down to 20,123.70 points.

Shares in camera maker Canon were up 0.8%. The rise comes as a surprise after the firm cut its earnings outlook and reported a 16% fall in quarterly profit on Monday.

Sales are hit by consumers increasingly using their smartphones rather than compact cameras.

In South Korea, the benchmark Kospi fell 0.9% to 2,019.92 points.

Relief for stocks could come from Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-Ahn declaring the end of the deadly outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers).

36 people died out of the 186 infected by the virus, following the first diagnosis on 20 May.

The outbreak had been a major strain on the country's economy, affecting domestic consumption and tourism.

The quarantine of the last suspected patient was lifted on Monday.

Australian stocks followed the region's trend, falling 0.9% to 5,542.20 points.

China is Australia's main market and the dramatic volatility in Chinese stocks as well as the slowing growth indicators are likely dampening investor sentiment.