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China said on Monday it was prepared to buy shares to stabilize the stock market and avert “systemic risks,” after major indices plunged more than 8 per cent in the biggest one-day fall since 2007.

The securities regulator also said market authorities would deal severely with anyone engaged in the “malicious shorting of stocks,” in Beijing’s latest attempt to stave off a full-blown market crash.

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China’s stocks tumbled, with the benchmark index falling the most since February 2007, amid concern a three-week rally sparked by unprecedented government intervention is unsustainable.

The Shanghai Composite Index plunged 8.5 per cent to 3,725.56 at the close, with 75 stocks dropping for each one that rose. PetroChina Co., long considered a target of state-linked market support funds, tumbled by a record 9.6 per cent. China Securities Finance Corp., a state-backed agency that provides margin financing and liquidity, hasn’t exited the stock market, China Securities Regulatory Commission spokesman Zhang Xiaojun said in a statement after the close of trading.