BEIJING (Reuters) -China halved the stamp duty on stock trading effective Monday in the latest attempt to boost the struggling market as a recovery sputters in the world's second-biggest economy.

The finance ministry said in a brief statement on Sunday it was reducing the 0.1% duty on stock trades "in order to invigorate the capital market and boost investor confidence".

Reuters reported on Friday that the authorities were planning to cut the duty by up to half after a key share index fell to nine-month lows.

"Such a policy will likely give a short-term boost to the market but won't have much effect over the long run," Xie Chen, a fund manager at Shanghai Jianwen Investment Management Co, said before the announcement. "The rebound could last for just two to three days, or even shorter."

(Reporting by Judy Hua and Joe Cash; Editing by William Mallard)