Well, that’s it, kids: we’re heading home. Chinese shares are down 7 per cent, and thanks to the newly-instituted market circuit breakers, that means the market shuts.

沪深300指数(CSI 300)包含了沪深两市交易的300支主要A股,其于2016年交易首日下跌7%，根据新推行的市场熔断机制，意味着当日股市交易已结束。

The CSI 300, which consists of 300 of the top A-shares traded on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges, is down 7 per cent and will be shut for the remainder of the day.

上证综指下跌6.85%，以科技版块为重点的深证综指下跌8.22%。

In early December, authorities announced that market circuit breakers would be introduced become effective from January 1 in an effort to limit the volatility seen during the savage, summer sell-off from June. The circuit breakers would see trading in shares, options and futures halted for 15 minutes if they fell by more than 5 per cent. On their first day of use, that first threshold was breached just after the return from the lunchbreak, prompting a 15-minute halt.

去年12月初，中国有关部门宣布将于今年1月1日起实施股市熔断机制，以限制股市再出现去年6月夏季大抛售时的波动。当股票、期权和期货下跌逾5%，将触发熔断机制，交易将暂停15分钟。今天是熔断机制启用的第一天，下午刚一开盘，于当地时间下午1:14分，A股市场就突破了第一道阈值，触发停盘15分钟。当交易恢复后，5分钟内大盘继续下跌了2%，二度触发熔断机制。

But the declines continued, and now it’s all over, red rover.

停盘可能对深证综指起到了良好的作用，跌幅达8.22%的深证综指面临自2007年2月27日以来最大单日跌幅。此外根据FastFT的计算，自1996年12月16日中国股市实施10%的每日交易限制以来，今天这个缩短的交易日将列入深证综指第九大单日最大跌幅。

The Shanghai Composite is nursing a decline of 6.85 per cent, while the tech-focused Shenzhen Composite is down 8.19 per cent.

中国股市的跌势仍在继续，现在“红线”已触，一切都提早结束了。