China reportedly freezes new share offers in bid to stop sharp slide in stock markets

The Chinese government has reportedly frozen new share offers and established a market-stabilisation fund in an attempt to halt the sharp decline in the country's stock market.

The Wall Street Journal said initial public offerings had been suspended, news which came just hours after a number of the country's leader brokerages posted a statement on the website of the Securities Association of China saying that they would collectively buy at least $19.3bn-worth of shares.

Nearly $3trn has been wiped off the value of markets in China in recent weeks.

Efforts to prop up the world's second largest economy were also reportedly being made by the 25 of the country's mutual funds, which said they were also willing to acquire stock.

Other recent central government attempts to ease the volatility include increased bank liquidity and an interest rate cut.