Shares tumble 2.5% on worries of a looming tariff war between China and US

Shanghai stocks slumped on Monday amid rising concerns over a looming wave of tariffs the US intends to impose on Chinese exports from Friday.

The Shanghai Composite Index tumbled 2.52 percent to close at 2,775.56 points for a 28-month low.

The US tariffs on US$34 billion of Chinese goods will come into effect on Friday. China has also threatened to retaliate with duties on the equivalent value of American products.

Also noteworthy was the Caixin China General Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ index which slipped to 51.0 in June from May’s 51.1, while China's official PMI released by the National Bureau of Statistics over the weekend fell by 0.4 point from May.

Real estate shares were among the biggest decliners, with Zhongzhu Healthcare Holding Co and Wuhan East Lake High Technology Group Co both dropping by the daily limit of 10 percent.

Non-bank financial stocks such as China Pacific Insurance Group Co, Zheshang Securities and Ping An Insurance Group all fell by over 5 percent.

CMST Development Co, a company in the transport sector, fell by the maximum daily cap of 10 percent, while Xiamen C&D shed 5.78 percent.