China's Xi tightens stock market rules after sell-off

China has tightened its financial industry rules as the government tries to halt a deepening sell-off in the world's second largest economy.

Nearly $6tn (£4.7tn) has been wiped off Chinese and Hong Kong stocks since their most recent peak three years ago.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) says the measures will create "a fairer market order".

Under the new rules limits will be put on so-called "short-selling" from Monday.

Short selling is when a trader bets that a share or other asset will fall in value. They borrow the asset and sell it immediately with the aim of buying it back later at a lower price and keeping the difference.

Defenders of short selling say it can play an important part in financial markets, by helping find the true value of an asset.

However, some critics see short selling as a ruthless trading strategy that undermines companies.

The latest announcement by the CSRC comes after a series of informal measures introduced by the regulator over the last year did little to shore up financial markets.

The CSRC said that following "a complete suspension of the lending of restricted stocks", which takes effect today, further limitations on securities lending will be introduced from 18 March.

Last week, the country's premier Li Qiang asked authorities to take more "forceful" measures to stabilise share prices.

The sell-off in China's stock market comes as some investors are concerned that the country's economy could face a long period of slow economic growth.

Central to China's economic problems is its property market. For two decades, the sector boomed and accounted for a third of the country's entire wealth.

But when the government put limits on how much developers could borrow in 2020, they started