BEIJING, July 10 -- Nearly a quarter of China's listed companies have come up with plans to stabilize their stock prices, the country's securities regulator said on Friday.

As of Thursday, 655 companies had announced measures to increase share holding of or repurchase their own stocks from the market, after a period in which the market plunged by 30 percent from its June 12 peak, according to the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).

On Wednesday, the CSRC encouraged major shareholders, directors, supervisors and senior managers of listed companies to buy more shares to help maintain steady prices.

Thanks to the government's propping up of the market, Chinese shares have staged a two-day rebound, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index leaping 4.54 percent to finish at 3,877.8 points on Friday.