The Shanghai Composite Index ended down 0.7 percent at 2,356.8 points. The CSI300 of the leading Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listings dropped 0.8 percent.
The steel sector was the main drag on the index. Inner Mongolia BaoTou Steel Union Co fell 2.8 percent and Baoshan Iron & Steel Co lost 2.0 percent.
Real estate stocks also underperformed. China Vanke lost 1.1 percent, and Poly Real Estate Group dropped 2.1 percent.
But sectors such as railways and pharmaceuticals outperformed on policy support.
Railway companies CSR Corporation Limited and China CNR Corporation Limited both jumped to their 10-percent daily limit after China's Premier Li Keqiang signed high-speed railway agreements with Russia this week.
Drug stocks gained as President Xi Jinping pledged further efforts to fight against the Ebola epidemic, with Shandong Lukang Pharmaceutical Co and Jiangsu Sihuan Bioengineering hitting their 10-percent daily limit.