China stocks plunge 4.39% at opening

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Chinese shares tumbled at opening on Wednesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 4.39 percent at 3,027.68 points. [File photo]

Chinese stocks nosedived more than four percent after the opening bell on Wednesday over deepening downward pressure on the world's second largest economy.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index opened 4.39 percent lower at 3,027.68 points. The Shenzhen Component Index was down 4.61 percent at 9,694.48 points. The ChiNext Index, China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, opened 5.39 percent lower at 1,787.71 points.

The decline narrowed later, led by a rebound in banking stocks. China CITIC Bank at one point gained more than 1 percent, and Bank of Beijing also gained 0.11 percent.

As of 10:07 a.m., around 2,107 shares across the two bourses sank, while only 165 shares were in positive territory.

Chinese shares slumped for a third-consecutive day on Wednesday on weak economic data. China's manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) came in at 49.7 in August, down from 50 for July, according to data released on Tuesday morning by the National Bureau of Statistics and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing.

The August reading was the lowest since August 2012.

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