A folk performer with his face painted to appear as knife cuts, and wearing a knife prop on his head, takes part in a "Blood Shehuo" parade to celebrate the Lantern Festival on the last day of the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations at Chisha village in Baoji, Shaanxi province February 6, 2012. REUTERS/Rooney Chen Chinese stocks have had another session to forget, tanking in the final hour of trade to close down nearly 3%.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite index finished the session down 2.9% at 2655.66 points, having been close to breakeven with less than a hour to trade.

The closing level was the lowest seen since November 27, 2014, and extends the decline from the multi year high of 5178.19 struck on June 12 last year to 48.68%.

From another perspective, the index has now nearly halved in just 155 sessions of trade.

The chart below reveals the scale of the recent plunge, along with the remarkable rally that preceded it.