Chinese main stock indexes slump on Friday

A-shares dipped their most in five weeks as stocks plunged across the board, with property and materials among the biggest losers.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index shed 2.49 percent to close at 2,579.48 points. The Shenzhen Component Index lost 3.26 percent to close at 7,636.70 points.

The blue-chip CSI300 index fell 2.2 percent to end at 3,143.48 points.

Combined turnover of the two bourses stood at 358.5 billion yuan (US$ 51.61 billion).

Stocks fell as investors doubt that President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump will achieve a de-escalation in the Sino-US trade frictions when they meet at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires next week.

The trade conflict intensified on Tuesday, as the United States updated its Section 301 report and criticized China’s intellectual rights practices, which are at the heart of trade frictions.

“China will not accept groundless accusations,” Gao Feng, press spokesman for China’s Ministry of Commerce said.

“Recent developments have eroded expectations of a trade deal at the Xi-Trump meeting,” said Yu Bin, investment advisor at Zhongtai Securities.