assurance on new rules

On Saturday, China's National Press and Publication Administration also vowed in a WeChat statement to "carefully study" the concerns of stakeholders — a day after fresh rules that it proposed sank the Hong Kong-listed shares of Tencent, NetEase and Bilibili.

The regulator, which also controls the publication of new games in the world's largest online gaming market, then said Monday that it approved more than 100 new domestic games, after saying Friday that it approved 40 imported games.

"We believe these fire-quenching measures may help to slightly ease market concerns, but they are not enough to remove the overhang caused by the draft regulation," Nomura analysts said in a Tuesday note.

On Wednesday, NetEase shares surged as much as 14% in early trading as Hong Kong markets returned from the Christmas holidays. NetEase eventually ended Wednesday up 11.9%. The stock had plunged about 25% on Friday.

Rival Tencent climbed 4% on Wednesday after shedding more than $43 billion in market value in Friday's rout. Bilibili, a social media site that derived 17.1% of its total third-quarter net revenue from Chinese domestic gaming, jumped 6.7%. Its shares had tumbled about 10% on Friday