SHANGHAI: China stocks closed down on Thursday as better-than-expected trade data dented expectations of strong stimulus, even though the top securities regulator vowed to protect small investors and address deep-rooted issues in the market.

China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index lost 0.6% and the Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.4% at close.

Hong Kong’s share benchmark Hang Seng finished down 1.3%, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index declined 1%.

Other Asian stocks were mostly up as investors took comfort from growing signs the U.S. Federal Reserve will soon embark on rate cuts.

China’s export and import growth in the January-February period beat forecasts. Analysts worry it might soften stimulus strength as China set a 5% economic growth target for 2024 this week, but did not provide plans for strong stimulus.

China stocks ends higher for third week on policy hopes

Also hurting sentiment, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that the United States continues to hold the wrong perception of China and has yet to fulfil its promises despite some progress since the presidents of both countries met last November.

Healthcare, artificial intelligence and photovoltaic sectors fell between 2.5% and 3.8% to lead the declines.

WuXi AppTec tumbled as the U.S. Senate’s Homeland Security Committee voted to approve a bill that could restrict business with Chinese biotech companies.

Hong Kong-listed tech giants lost 1.6%, but JD.com jumped 6% after the Chinese online retailer reported fourth-quarter revenue above estimates.

China’s securities regulator vowed to protect small investors by cracking down on market misbehaviour and improving the quality of listed companies.

“We think these are positive messages,” said Morgan Stanley in a note. “We continue to believe that breaking out of the ongoing deflation pressure through a stronger fiscal package would be more important to stabilizing and rebooting Chinese listed companies’ earnings growth outlook.”