Chinese stocks suffered another steep decline on Tuesday, pushing the Shanghai Composite below 3,000 points for the first time since December and extending the country’s worst sell-off in almost two decades.

周二，中国股市再度暴跌。上证综指自去年12月以来首次跌破3000点关口，中国将近20年来最严重的抛售行情仍在延续。

The benchmark Chinese stock index sank 7.6 per cent, while the Shenzhen Composite lost 7.1 per cent. The Shanghai market has tumbled 22 per cent over the past four trading sessions, marking its fastest retreat since daily price move limits were introduced in 1996.

上证综指收跌7.63%，深证综指收跌7.09%。过去四个交易日，沪市已累计下跌22%，是自1996年出台涨跌停制度以来的最快下跌。

PetroChina, the country’s biggest company by market capitalisation, fell by the maximum 10 per cent, while ICBC, the largest mainland lender, shed 5.1 per cent. In total, more than 2,000 companies listed across China’s two exchanges dropped by the 10 per cent limit, while only 24 stocks rose.

中国市值最大的企业中国石油(PetroChina)跌停，最大的中资银行中国工商银行(ICBC)收跌5.12%。总体来看，中国两大股市有近2000家企业的股票跌停。

Following a highly volatile session across Asia, the Hang Seng index edged up 0.7 per cent, while the China Enterprises index slipped 1.1 per cent.

在整个亚洲经历了高度动荡的一个交易日后，香港恒生指数(Hang Seng index)小幅收涨0.7%，恒生中国企业指数(Hang Seng China Enterprises Index)下跌1.1%。

Chinese stocks have plunged over the past week, after the government signalled it would no longer intervene to prop up the market on a daily basis following a two-month operation to halt sliding shares.

上周，中国政府释放信号，表示不再展开日常的托市干预。消息传出后，中国股市在过去一周里急剧下跌。此前，中国政府曾连续两个月采取措施，阻止股价下滑。

“Confidence in the markets for either domestic or international investors has not been restored and the measures to prevent selling have had limited impact,” said Miranda Carr, analyst at BESI Research, in a note.

必利胜投资银行研究部门(BESI Research)的米兰达愠尔(Miranda Carr)在一份报告中称：“国内投资者和国际投资者都没有恢复对市场的信心，那些阻止抛售的举措影响力有限。”

On Monday, the Shanghai index suffered its biggest one day fall since 2007, a move which helped trigger one of the worst sell-offs in global in equities since the financial crisis. However, Tuesday’s fall failed to feed through to the rest of Asia, with markets bouncing in South Korea, Taiwan, and Australia.

周一，上证综指出现了2007年以来的最大单日跌幅，在一定程度上引发了金融危机以来全球股市的最严重抛售行情之一。不过，周二沪市的暴跌却未能向亚洲其余地区传播，韩国、台湾和澳大利亚股市都出现了反弹。

Meanwhile worsening economic data has fed into fears that China is slowing far faster than previously thought, prompting speculation that the government may announce some form of stimulus measures to boost growth. However, so far China’s leaders have not been forthcoming.

与此同时，不断恶化的经济数据也助长了对中国经济放缓速度远快于此前预期的担忧，促使一些人猜测中国政府或将宣布某种形式的刺激举措来提振增长。但到目前为止，中国领导人一直按兵不动。

“While Beijing agonises over what, when and how much to spend, the markets will continue to dive”, said Lim Say Boon, chief investment officer at DBS Bank, in a note.

星展银行(DBS Bank)首席投资官林哲文(Lim Say Boon)在一份报告中称：“尽管北京方面为买什么、何时买和花多少钱买伤透了脑筋，但市场仍将继续跳水。”

Shanghai stocks have now given up all their gains this year, with the closing level of 2,964 the lowest finish since December. At one point, the index rose above 5,100 in June, a seven-year high, in a rally that many analysts warned had become a bubble.

沪市已抹平了今年的全部涨幅，2964.97点的收盘点位是去年12月以来的最低收盘点位。今年6月，上证指数一度突破5100点，达到7年高点。当时，许多分析师警告称，这轮上涨已成泡沫。

Since then, stocks have dropped 42 per cent from their peak, while the average price to earnings ratio of Shanghai stocks has fallen from 20.7 times to 12.2 times. That helped draw in some buyers through the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect, which saw another $1.2bn of net inflows on Tuesday, the same amount as on Monday.

自那以来，股市已较峰值下跌42%，沪股平均市盈率已从20.7倍降至12.2倍。这帮助吸引了部分买家通过“沪港通”机制入市。周二，沪港通净流入资金再次达到12亿美元，与周一相同。

However, with a p/e ratio of aout 30 times once banks are excluded, some analysts warn that Chinese stocks are still overvalued and likely to fall further now that state support appears to have ended.

不过，如果将银行股排除在外，中国股票的市盈率仍在30倍左右。部分分析师据此警告称，中国股票的估值仍然过高，在政府似乎已停止托市的情况下，股市很可能会进一步下跌。