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BEIJING, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese stocks closed lower on Thursday, led by energy and property shares.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.38 percent to 3,101.3 points. The Shenzhen index closed 0.37 percent lower at 9,768.57 points.
Turnover on the two exchanges shrank to 297.89 billion yuan (around 43.4 billion U.S. dollars ) from 316.69 billion yuan the previous trading day.
The ChiNext Index, which tracks China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, lost 0.09 percent to close at 1,844.14 points.
Investors remained cautious ahead of the Spring Festival holiday, when trading could be thin due to low participation and expectations of tighter liquidity in the country's financial system.
Market watchers said investors were also concerned about faster approvals for IPOs which would increase the supply of equity in the market. Chinese regulators last Friday approved 10 IPO applications.
Most sectors lost ground, led by energy and property shares.
Shanxi Meijin Energy Co., a local coal producer, plunged 9.96 percent to close at 12.29 yuan.
PetroChina, the country's biggest oil producer, edged down 0.82 percent to finish at 8.5 yuan.
China Vanke, the largest residential property developer, fell 1.53 percent to end at 20.6 yuan.
