China slashes rates to halt stock market slide

What's happening in Chinese markets?
What's happening in Chinese markets?

China's central bank took some aggressive steps on Saturday to boost its slowing economy.

The People's Bank of China cut both its one-year lending and deposit rates by 0.25%. In an additional move to shore up the economy, the bank also lowered the amount of cash that large banks must keep on reserve by 0.50%, a move intended free up money for banks to lend.

Policymakers have been taking action to support the economy, especially after sluggish first-quarter economic growth. Chinese stock markets have been falling, and had a particularly brutal end to the week.

China's benchmark Shanghai Composite index dropped by 7.4% on Friday, as hundreds of individual stocks lost 10%, the index's daily downward limit. The Shenzhen Composite, which is heavy on tech stocks, closed down 7.9%.

--Charles Riley contributed to this report

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