Ageas has agreed to sell its Hong Kong insurance unit to a China-based asset manager JD Capital for HK$10.7 billion ($1.4 billion), the Belgian insurer said in a statement, exiting a business it acquired eight years ago.

Dalian Wanda Group, headed by China's richest man, said it has bought the organizer of Ironman Triathlon races for $650 million, in a diversification push that the property developer said may involve another sports purchase by year-end.

Chinese investment firm Yue Xiu has effectively pulled out of a deal to buy a unit of lender BOC Hong Kong Holdings Ltd, put off by the $8.8 billion asking price amid a sharp stock market downturn, people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

China said it would launch a three-month crackdown on underground banking to curb money-laundering and illegal funds transfers as unstable markets stoke fears of capital flight.

China's securities regulator has released a list of the first batch of funds it has accepted under the mutual fund recognition scheme, which allows funds to be sold across China and Hong Kong as part of Beijing's market liberalisation drive.

China's securities regulator said it would severely punish shareholders who illegally reduce holdings in listed companies, and that it has started investigating 52 suspected cases.

China's securities market regulator and police are cracking down on suspected violations of stock dealing rules and the fabrication of trading information, the latest step in a slew of measures to clean up markets amid wild exchange gyrations.

China's banking regulator has issued new guidance aimed at supporting the country's so-called new Silk Road infrastructure initiative, along with regional development in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area and the Yangtze River economic corridor that includes Shanghai.

Hanergy Thin Film Power Group Ltd (HTF), which is being probed by Hong Kong regulators after its stock suddenly plunged, will have to convince shareholders about its outlook after it cut ties with its parent, which last year alone bought about two-thirds of its solar panel making equipment.

China's currency devaluation should give a shot in the arm to global foreign exchange volumes as traders take advantage of and protect themselves against the surprise surge in volatility, but its longer-term impact on market activity may not be so benign.