Shares in Hong Kong have slumped to the lowest level since the global financial crisis, after a major speech by the city's leader on Wednesday.
The benchmark Hang Seng index fell by more than 3% to its lowest level since May 2009, before regaining some ground.
Investors are also concerned about the threat of a global economic slowdown as central banks around the world raise interest rates to tackle rising prices.
One financial expert told the BBC that the "panic selling is ridiculous".
In his first policy address yesterday, Hong Kong's chief executive John Lee announced measures to boost security and plans to attract more overseas talent to the territory.
However, he did not elaborate on economic targets for the city, which has lost ground to rival Asian financial centres like Singapore.
Other stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region were also lower on Thursday, with benchmark share indexes in Japan, South Korea and Australia losing ground.
Meanwhile, the Japanese yen weakened to a fresh 32-year low of more than 150 to the US dollar.
That triggered further speculation that Japanese authorities will attempt to prop up the currency for the second time in the space of just a few weeks.