Chinese shares drop after recent gains

BEIJING, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese shares reversed gains to close slightly lower on Tuesday, as some investors cashed in their chips after recent rallies fueled by a positive economic outlook.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.56 percent, or 13.08points, to end at 2,315.14, while the Shenzhen Component Index moved down 0.28 percent, or 26.49 points, to 9,536.36.

B shares on the Shenzhen bourse continued to outperform the main board on Tuesday, after China Vanke, the nation's largest property developer, on Monday said it plans to switch its B shares in Shenzhen to H shares in Hong Kong. The index jumped 4.41 percent.

Vanke's B shares again soared by the 10-percent daily limit to finish at 15.13 Hong Kong dollars per share.

Combined turnover on the two bourses rose to 240.1 billion yuan (38.23 billion U.S. dollars) from 220.93 billion yuan the previous trading day.

Losers outnumbered gainers by 762 to 192 in Shanghai and by 1,251 to 268 in Shenzhen.

Medical equipment manufacturing and environmental protection shares led Tuesday's declines. Sinocare Inc. slipped 4.76 percent to close at 57.97 yuan per share, while Top Resource Conservation Engineering Co. was down 5.61 percent to 10.27 yuan.

Bucking the trend, the cement sector extended gains on Tuesday, with Xinjiang West Construction Co. up by the 10-percent daily limit to end at 15.46 yuan.

Financial shares also gained steam, as Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Monday called on the government to push forward financial reforms during an inspection tour to the nation's central bank.

To gradually make the yuan convertible under the capital account, efforts should be made to advance the market-based reform of interest rates and improve the yuan exchange rate formation mechanism, Wen said.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the nation's largest lender by market size, rose 1.19 percent to 4.25 yuan, and China Merchants Bank Co., a commercial lender, climbed 3.17 percent to 14 yuan.

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