China market trading suspended as shares dive 7%

Trading on China's Shanghai Composite index was halted in the first session of 2016 after shares plunged 7%.

Under a new system introduced to curb volatility after last August's Black Monday sell-off, trading was initially halted for 15 minutes after the stock market fell by 5%. However, shares continued to drop and regulators then ended trading early, according to the BBC. The Shanghai Composite fell 6.9% to 3,296.66 points before trading was halted for the day. Investors were nervous following the release of more data last week which added to growing concerns about the strength of the Chinese economy. The Caixin/Markit purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to 48.2 in December; the te...