Chinese shares retreat on profit taking

Chinese shares fell Thursday after rallying more than one percent the previous day, as investors rushed to lock in gains.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.87 percent, or 18.85 points, to finish at 2,141.61. The Shenzhen Component Index retreated 1.27 percent, or 108.96 points, to finish at 8,444.41.

Combined turnover on the two bourses shrank to 185.24 billion yuan (30.40 billion U.S. dollars) from 194.9 billion yuan on the previous trading day.

Stocks in the environmental protection, development zone and petrol sectors led Thursday's declines, with the indices tracking those industries down 4.08 percent, 3.77 percent and 3.52 percent respectively.

Jiangsu Welle Environmental Co. plunged by the daily cap of 10 percent to 22.21 yuan per share. Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Development Co. shed 6.62 percent to 36.84 yuan per share.

Gains in the property sector helped limit Thursday's losses. The sector rose after Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the need to accelerate the country's housing supply to guarantee people's basic residential needs.

Macrolink Real Estate rose by the daily limit of 10 percent and China Merchants Property Development jumped 3.84 percent.

The furniture, wine brewing and cement sectors also performed well, with the indices for those industries up 2.46 percent, 1.59 percent and 1.01 percent respectively.

The ChiNext Index, a NASDAQ-style board tracking China's growth enterprises, lost 2.96 percent, or 37.74 points, to close at 1,235.56 points.