Chinese stocks tumble as investors take profits

China stocks retreated on Wednesday, led by declines among consumer and tourism companies as investors locked in profits after earlier gains.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.36 percent to close at 3,283.92 points. The smaller Shenzhen Component Index declined 1.01 percent to 13,011.28 points.

The ChiNext ended 1.55 percent lower at 2,554.8 points, while the bluechip CSI300 Index dropped 0.66 percent to 4,657.36 points.

Trading volume on the two major bourses added up to 684.3 billion yuan (US$101.2 billion), compared with Tuesday’s 725.5 billion yuan.

As for individual shares, nearly 47 listed firms posted gains of more than 9 percent, while eight declined by over 9 percent.

Despite the decline of A-share market, China's central bank on Wednesday continued to pump cash into the banking system. The People's Bank of China injected 120 billion yuan into the market through seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 2.2 percent.

Shanxi Guoxin Energy Co Ltd jumped 7.84 percent to 4.95 yuan, while Hubei Junyao Healthy Drink Co Ltd added 3 percent to 22.31 yuan.