Chinese shares closed down 2.32 percent on Wednesday, staging the second-biggest fall in six weeks after the country's banking regulator approved a plan by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country's largest bank, to go public.
The benchmark Shanghai composite index fell to 1,645.16 points, although it ended well off its intra-day low. Turnover was moderate at 20.5 billion yuan ($2.6 billion), up from 18.5 billion yuan on Tuesday.
The index was down 1.44 percent at the lunch break. Banking stocks led losses on Wednesday, under pressure from the upcoming initial public offering by ICBC. Bank of China, the largest capitalised stock on the mainland's bourses, closed down 1.96 percent at 3.5 yuan, its lowest level since it debuted in Shanghai on July 5.