Chinese shares declined on Thursday's trading

China stocks retreated on Thursday, led by declines in the insurance sector.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed 0.78 percent lower at 2,920.9 points, while the smaller Shenzhen Component Index fell 0.81 percent to 11,243.62 points.

The ChiNext Composite Index also edged down 0.29 percent to 2,195.64 points, and the blue chip CSI300 Index dropped 1.08 percent to end at 3,995.88 points.

Trading volume on the two major bourses in Shanghai and Shenzhen added up to 720.9 billion yuan (US$101.89 billion), expanding largely from 615.1 billion yuan in the previous session. Turnover on the Shanghai Stock Exchange increased 45 billion yuan to 244 billion yuan.

Overseas capital continued to pour into the Chinese mainland for the 14th consecutive session, with a net influx of 145 million yuan via the Stock Connect schemes linking the mainland with Hong Kong.

As for individual shares, stocks of 54 listed firms posted sharp gains of more than 9 percent, while nine fell by over 9 percent.

Food and beverage shares were among the biggest decliners, with Shandong Longlive Bio-Technology Co tumbling by 9.41 percent and Jiajia Food Group Co shedding 5.26 percent.

The agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery sectors also led the losses. Muyuan Foods Co dropped 5.06 percent, while Tianshui Zhongxing Bio-technology Co, Qingdao Vland Biotech Inc and Wellhope Agri-Tech Joint Stock Co all lost over 4 percent.

Brewers, household appliance firms, airports and the cement and building material sector all performed weakly.

Shares related to Tesla, however, gained strongly, with Changzhou Almaden Co, Jiangsu Xiujiang Glasswork Co and Jiangnan Mould & Plastic Technology Co all surging by the daily cap of 10 percent.

Tesla’s stock price hit US$1,000 for the first time on Wednesday (EDT), indicating that the company has now passed Toyota in market capitalization to become the most valuable automaker in the world.

On the Star Market, 42 of the 109 listed firms posted gains, one remained flat, while the rest dropped. Beijing Baolande Software Corp rose most by 19.78 percent, while Transsion Holdings Co lost 6.74 percent to be the biggest decliner.