Chinese shares finished the morning session 1.16 percent lower Wednesday, as investor confidence was chilled by the worse-than-expected producer price index (PPI).

The National Bureau of Statistics said the PPI further slowed to an annual rise of 2 percent in November. Analysts said the below-expectation figure sparked fears over a worsening economic performance.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed the earlier session at 2,214.04 points, down 23.7 points, and the smaller Shenzhen index lost 93.62 points, or 1.27 percent, to finish at 7,267.37.

The downward trend was led by losses of raw material providers, such as steel, coal and cement producers.

The banking sector bucked the trend in the morning, after commercial banks were allowed a day earlier to provide loans to domestic enterprises conducting acquisition both at home and abroad.

However, losses largely outnumbered gains on both markets in Shanghai and Shenzhen.

China Customs is also expected to release November trade figures Wednesday, and some analysts said that China's export may post a decline on a yearly basis.

On the same day, the three-day Central Economic Work Conference which gathered the country's top leaders will conclude and more measures are expected to maintain the stable growth of the economy against the adverse global economic circumstance.

In the previous trading day, Chinese shares fell more than 2.5 percent upon profit-taking from gains in the previous two days, and on worries about possibly unsatisfactory economic data.

(Xinhua News Agency December 10, 2008)