China’s 200 million-strong army of retail investors was supposed to help the market turn a corner. Instead, it has become a source of weakness.

China's central bank kicked off two funding schemes on Friday that will initially pump 800 billion yuan ($112.38 billion) into the stock market through newly-created monetary policy tools. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) spelt out operational details of the swap and relending schemes first announced in late September,

Asian shares are higher after China's central bank released plans for supporting stock markets through share repurchases.

China's abrupt and ferocious stock market rally has slammed some of the country's biggest hedge funds, forcing them to hastily cover short positions and take losses on their bets in the heavily regulated derivatives market.