"Oil benchmarks diverged on Tuesday, as concerns about slowing China growth weighed on U.S. prices while better-than-expected European economic data boosted Brent crude, the international benchmark. Worse-than-expected trade data out of China added to fears of the slowdown in the world's No. 2 oil consumer. Oil prices dropped to more than six-year lows last month following a slide in the Chinese stock market and continued concerns about oversupply. According to Chinese customs data, China's crude-oil imports in August fell 13% over the month, pointing to a diminished appetite for crude," The Wall Street Journal reports.

The New York Times writes, "The police have been dropping in on investment firms and downloading their transaction records. Senior executives at China's biggest investment bank have been arrested on suspicion of illegal trading. Abusiness journalist has been detained and shown apologizing on national television for writing an article that could have hurt the market. The Communist Party's response to China's monthslong stock market crisis has been swift and forceful. In addition to spending as much as $235 billion to buy shares and bolster prices, the authorities have imposed a range of extraordinary restrictions on the sale of stocks - and backed them with the full weight of a security apparatus usually more focused on political dissent than equity trades."

"China has fended off the major risks to its financial system while its economic prospects remain positive, Premier Li Keqiang said on Wednesday, as he tried to reassure global markets that Beijing can keep its economy on track and stock markets in check. "The government took measures to stabilize the market and prevent risks from spreading, we have forced out the possibility of any systemic risks," Li said during a speech at the World Economic Forum, the Switzerland-based corporate think-tank which runs the Davos summit of world leaders. A run of soft economic data combined with China's surprise devaluation of the yuan and wild swings in Chinese stock prices have rattled markets around the world over the past month," Reuters writes.