China cuts interest rates to halt stock market crash
China's central bank has taken action to halt the dramatic sell-off in Chinese stocks by cutting interest rates for the fifth time since November.
The move follows days of severe losses on the Shanghai market, including a 7% slide today.
The People's Bank of China lowered both the one-year lending rate and the one-year deposit by 25 basis points to 4.6% and 1.75%, respectively.
Many had expected the Bank to move earlier to stem the declines, which had triggered a global market rout.
Global markets suffered their worst day of trading since the financial crisis yesterday and an estimated $5 trillion had been wiped from the value of stocks around the world in just 11 days.
Some markets, including London's FTSE 100 index, have since begun to bounce back.
The blue-chip index was last up more than 3% at 6090.71 points.
The turmoil started when the central bank announced on August 11 that it was devaluing the yuan, which many saw as a desperate attempt to pump up exports in the face of a slumping domestic economy.
