China markets slump to five-year lows as small investors promised protection

An electronic screen displaying stock prices at a brokerage house in Hangzhou in east China’s Zhejiang province on Monday (Chinatopix via AP)

Chinese shares gyrated on Monday, sinking to five-year lows after market regulators sought to reassure jittery investors with a promise to crack down on stock price manipulation and “malicious short selling”.

Shares in Shanghai and the smaller market in Shenzhen, near Hong Kong, swung between big losses and small gains throughout the day. The markets have languished on heavy selling of property shares, which are enduring a slump in the property market.