BEIJING: China shares ended lower on Wednesday, with property firms among the biggest laggards, on mounting pressure for raising cash under the government’s new debt-ratio caps, while profit-taking in agricultural stocks after recent sharp gains also weighed.

At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.56% at 3,340.78.

The blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.66%, with its real estate index down 1.21% and the healthcare sub-index down 0.61%.

The agriculture sector sub-index fell 1.4 while the consumer staples sector lost 0.83%.

The smaller Shenzhen index ended down 0.51% and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was weaker by 0.735%.

So far this week, the market capitalisation of the Shanghai stock index has risen by 2.67% to 38.86 trillion yuan ($5.77 trillion).

China’s second-largest property developer China Evergrande Group trimmed its share sale size as the government tackles what it considers excessive borrowing in the real estate development sector with new debt-ratio caps.

Investors are booking profits after gains generated earlier this week on anticipation of President Xi Jinping’s Shenzhen speech, said Zhang Yanbin, an analyst with Zheshang Securities.

Shenzhen will strengthen property rights and protection of entrepreneurs, Xi said Wednesday in a speech to marking the establishment of the country’s first economic zone in the southern city four decades earlier.—Reuters