China's Stocks Down Wednesday, Led by Weak Property Shares

 BEIJING, Aug. 19 -- Chinese shares closed down Wednesday after a moderate rise the previous trading day.

Property shares posted wide losses in Wednesday's trading on expectations that the government would maintain its tough stance on the real estate sector.

China Vanke Ltd., the country's biggest developer, fell 1.68 percent to close at 8.79 yuan; Poly Real Estate Group closed 0.98 percent lower to finish at 13.16 yuan.

Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang said Friday that the government would continue to regulate the housing market and resolutely crack down on speculative property investment and other unreasonable market demand.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed at 2,666.3 points, down 5.59 points, or 0.21 percent, while the Shenzhen Component Index closed flat to end at 11,282.33 points, up 0.37 points.

Combined turnover slightly rose to 244 billion yuan (35.9 billion U.S. dollars), up from 241.9 billion yuan the previous trading day.

Losers outnumbered gainers by 592 to 291 in Shanghai and 646 to 428 in Shenzhen.

Shares related to China's northeast regions rallied strongly after the government Tuesday called for further efforts to accelerate economic development in these areas.

Jilin Expressway Co. Ltd. rose 5.15 percent to close at 4.49 yuan; Heilongjiang Transportation Development Co. Ltd. gained 5.41 percent to finish at 4.48 yuan. Northeast Electrical Development Co. Ltd. also rose 1.6 percent to 5.08 yuan.

China Everbright Bank Co. Ltd., the latest Chinese bank to be listed in China, surged 18.06 percent to finish at 3.66 yuan on its debut Wednesday at the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The lender raised 18.9 billion yuan (2.78 billion dollars) with the sale of 6.1 billion shares with an initial public offering price of 3.1 yuan.