China's factory gate prices declined at the fastest pace in more than three years in September, reinforcing the case for Beijing to unveil further stimulus as manufacturing cools on weak demand and US trade pressures.
That came after data showed a slide in China's exports picked up pace in September, while imports contracted for a fifth straight month.
Doubts remained as to whether China and the United States could come to a durable deal to end their more than one-year-long trade war.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Monday that an additional round of tariffs on Chinese imports would likely be imposed if a trade deal with China had not been reached by then, but added that he expected the agreement to go through.
Analysts recommended taking a cautious stance as the benchmark Shanghai index approached the 3,000-point level, a key resistance since early May.
Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.01%, while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 1.87%. At 07:14 GMT, the yuan was quoted at 7.076 per US dollar, 0.13% weaker than the previous close of 7.067.
About 15.54 billion shares were traded on the Shanghai exchange, roughly 82.6% of the market's 30-day moving average of 18.80 billion shares a day. The volume in the previous trading session was 20.86 billion.
As of 07:15 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 29.98% over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares.