Vanke to buy back $1.6b of shares to stem market slide

China Vanke, the country's largest residential developer, approved a plan to buy back as much as 10 billion yuan ($1.61 billion) of its A shares after regulators imposed more measures to stem market plunge.

The move came amid similar decisions made among board members, executives and controlling shareholders of more than 20 listed Chinese firms.

Nine Shanghai-listed companies, including environmental protection firm Beijing GeoEnviron Engineering & Technology and 14 listed on the tech-heavy Shenzhen Stock Exchange, made the announcement over the weekend, according to Xinhua, to support share prices.

Vanke plans to repurchase its Shenzhen-listed shares at no more than 13.7 yuan each, which is the previous closing price on July 3, said the company in a filing to Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The developer giant will repurchase no less than 6.6 percent of its total issued stocks, assuming a full amount of repurchase, according to the statement.

The plan came after the China Regulatory Commission launched a flurry of policies over the weekend to restore faith among stock investors when earlier ones failed to ease market concerns.

The benchmark Shanghai index plunged 29 percent from June 12 peak as of Friday close, while the Shenzhen Component Index slumped 33 percent.

In recent "market-saving" campaigns, regulators suspended 28 initial public offerings, while brokerages and executives from 25 mutual funds vowed to buy stocks.

The People's Bank of China said it will offer liquidity support to China Securities Finance Corporation, a State-owned facilitating margin loan services among brokerages