Image copyright AFP Image caption Chinese shares have lost nearly 40% of their value since June

Chinese markets recovered some ground on Wednesday, with the main share index recovering from early losses.

The Shanghai Composite came back from a 4% fall to close 0.2% down at 3,160 points.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index closed 1.2% down at 20,934.

On Tuesday, data suggesting China's manufacturing sector was shrinking at its fastest pace in three years ignited a global market sell-off, resulting in US stocks closing down nearly 3%.

Chinese markets will be closed on Thursday and Friday for a holiday to commemorate the end of World War Two.

Wu Kan, a Shanghai-based fund manager at JK Life Insurance, told AFP that Beijing appeared to have been buying shares over recent days in an effort to support the market.

"But investors have lost confidence... the correction isn't over yet," he said.

Mainland Chinese stocks have lost nearly 40% of their value since June, despite attempts by the government and regulators to prop up the market.

Meanwhile, data showing US factory activity fell to a more than two-year low in August added to the already grim sentiment among investors.

The price of US crude oil also fell sharply - down 8% in New York overnight.

Rest of Asia up

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.4% to 18,095.40 after leading the region's losses in the previous session, down nearly 4%.

Australian shares closed up despite economic growth figures for the second quarter coming in below expectations.

The economy expanded 0.2% from the previous quarter and was up 2% compared with the same period last year.

Economists were expecting quarterly growth of 0.4% while the annual rate was forecast to be up 2.2%.

The S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.1% to 5,101.50 points - reversing earlier losses.

In South Korea, shares closed up despite government data showing that exports fell 4.3% in July, while imports rose 0.7%.

That led the current account surplus to fall to $9.5bn (£6.2bn) in seasonally adjusted terms from a record high of $10.7bn in June.

The benchmark Kospi index was higher by 0.05% to 1,915.22.