Share prices slump on renewed trade spat fears

Chinese stocks tumbled sharply on Wednesday to the lowest level since October 2016 amid renewed fears of an escalation in Sino-US trade tensions.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index declined by 2.5 percent to 3041.44, the biggest drop in two months with more than 200 stocks tumbling by the daily 10 percent trading limit, following a White House statement on Tuesday that renewed the threat of a 25 percent tariff on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods.

The sudden tone change by the US President Donald Trump on trade issues with China caught investors by surprise and rekindled worries about a trade war between the world's two largest economies.