SHANGHAI: China stocks ended lower on Monday, but posted gains in November, underpinned by stocks in traditional industries, as more data pointed to a continued recovery in the world's second-largest economy against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The blue-chip CSI300 index fell 0.4%, to 4,960.25, while the Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.5% to 3,391.76, reversing earlier gains as investors booked profits. Sentiment was hit by concerns over Sino-US tensions.

The Trump administration is poised to add China's top chipmaker SMIC and national offshore oil and gas producer CNOOC to a blacklist of alleged Chinese military companies, according to a document and sources.

Though for the month CSI300 gained 5.6%, while SSEC added 5.2%, both posted their biggest monthly advance since July. Leading the gains for the month, the Shanghai SE50 index, which tracks the 50 most representative traditional stocks on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, rallied 5.8%. The main reason for the strong rally was China's continued recovery, said Zhang Gang, an analyst with China Central Securities.