Chinese shares close lower Tuesday, with Shanghai composite index falling below 3,000 points

Chinese stocks closed lower on Tuesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 1.67 percent to 2,972.3 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index closed 1.97 percent lower at 9,470.36 points.

The combined turnover of stocks covered by the two indices totaled 822.5 billion yuan (US$115.6 billion), down from 851.2 billion yuan on the previous trading day.

Shares related to food processing and dairy production sectors led the gains, while those related to precious metals and memory chips suffered heavy losses.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, lost 1.98 percent to close at 1,871.1 points on Tuesday.