China's stocks extended losses and tumbled on Monday tracking last Friday's losses on Wall Street amid weaker-than-expected U.S. employment data.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.96 percent, or 49.54 points, to end at 2,478.74.
The Shenzhen Component Index dipped 2.43 percent, or 273.39 points, to finish at 10,954.9.
Combined turnover rose slightly to 105.87 billion yuan (16.54 billion U.S. dollars) from 105.15 billion yuan the previous trading day.
Analysts say China's central bank's new regulation to include banks' security deposits in banks' reserves weighed negatively on the market as the new policy is estimated to lock up 900 billion yuan of liquidity.
Meanwhile, a gloomy job market in the United States has added to worries about global economic growth. Friday's figures from the U.S. Department of Labor showed that the U.S. unemployment rate remained at 9.1 percent in August.
Cement shares led declines after high-level trading in recent weeks. Huaxin Cement and Anhui Conch Cement both fell by the daily limit of 10 percent.
Coal shares also retreated. Taiyuan Coal Gasification Co., Ltd. dropped 5.66 percent to 20.99 yuan per share. Kailuan Energy Chemical Co., Ltd. plunged 5.43 percent to 16.36 yuan.
On Monday, losers sharply outnumbered gainers 830 to 82 in Shanghai and 1,202 to 111 in Shenzhen.
Bucking the trend, gold-related shares rose on rising gold prices. Shandong Gold Mining rose 0.87 percent to 47.42 yuan. Zhongjin Gold Corp., Ltd. rose 0.66 percent to 27.28 yuan.
Source: Xinhua