Chinese stocks pared hefty losses intraday to close marginally lower on Wednesday in volatile trading.
The 4 percent tumble in early trade followed a 6.4 percent loss in the previous session, indicating the grim sense of uncertainty in the Chinese markets.
Chinese stocks have been battered in the absence of credible positive cues amid worries that a slowing economy is causing large-scale funds outflow.
The Shanghai Composite Index finished down 0.5% at 2,735.56, which was the lowest close since December 2014.
The benchmark index is now off 47% from its recent peak last June, Market Watch reported. So far in the new year the index has tumbled almost 23 percent an is heading for its worst monthly performance since October 2008.
A relapse in oil prices and fresh drops in Chinese stocks rubbed off on broader Asian stocks on Wednesday, even as U.S. Federal Reserve's policy statement was due.
iPhone maker Apple Inc's forecast of its first revenue drop in 13 years also indicated more hits on corporate profitability.
"There are concerns Apple is reaching the limits of iPhone growth and China won't make up for a slowdown in the rest of the world," Mark Matthews, head of Asia research and a managing director at Bank Julius Baer & Co. in Singapore wrote in a note.
