Benchmark index falls almost 50% below peak

China’s benchmark stock index, the CSI 300, fell by 0.9% to close at 2,952.24, dragging the index to almost half the level of its October 16 record, Bloomberg reported. The CSI 300 is down 45% this year as China’s government has boosted efforts to control rising consumer prices, the newswire service said. Chinese equities have lost US$1.74 trillion in market value this year. China’s largest publicly-traded brokerage, Citic Securities, saw its shares fall 3.3% to RMB26.62 (US$3.86), their lowest level since April 18. Shares in spirits distiller Kweichow Moutai retreated by 2.8% to RMB144.5 (US$20.96). But China Merchants Bank rose 3.9% to RMB24.22 (US$3.51), its biggest daily gain since May 14. The stock had dropped 21% in the previous seven days.