China stocks tumbled in afternoon trade on Wednesday, despite surprisingly positive official economic data, as a recent post-rout, government-triggered rebound appeared to be running out of steam. The CSI300 index of China’s largest listed companies tumbled more than 5 percent at one point, but eased some losses to end the day down 3.5 percent, at 3,966.76. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 3.0 percent, to 3,805.70 points. The slide highlights the difficulty Beijing faces as it seeks to restore confidence in its stock market without signaling investors it is guaranteeing a zero-risk free for all, which would simply reinflate a rally that even regulators said had become too frothy. “Sentiment is still weak,” said Du Changchun, analyst at Northeast Securities in Shanghai, adding that he believed […]