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BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s banking regulator has ordered a group of commercial banks to assess their exposure to offshore purchases by a handful of acquisitive Chinese corporate groups, two people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

The companies include HNA Group, Dalian Wanda Group Co., Anbang Insurance Group [ANBANG.UL], Fosun International Ltd 0656.HK and Zhejiang Luosen, the firm behind the purchase of A.C. Milan football club earlier this year, one of the sources said.

Chinese financial journal Caixin reported on the investigation earlier on Thursday.

The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) made the request as it moves to better control potential systemic risk as domestic companies move to acquire more assets in global markets.

Liu Zhiqing, deputy director general of the prudential regulation bureau of the CBRC, declined to comment on the reported communication to banks.

Shares in several of the companies whose loans the banks were asked to assess fell sharply on Thursday.

Shares in Fosun International fell as much as 9.6 percent in Hong Kong trading on Thursday, while shares of HNA Holding Group Co Ltd 0521.HK fell more than 6 percent.

Earlier on Thursday, Dalian Wanda Group denied as "malicious speculation" that some Chinese banks had ordered the sale of its bonds. Shares in Wanda Film Holding Co. 002739.SZ fell 10 percent, before they were suspended from trading in Shenzhen.

(This version of the story corrects to show loans being assessed, paragraph six)