Chinese shares close lower Wednesday on profit-taking
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Chinese stocks ended a two-day winning streak to close lower on Wednesday after investors retreated from a previous rally.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.05 percent to end at 3,240.66 points. The Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.51 percent lower at 10,498.31 points.

The ChiNext Index, China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, lost 0.67 percent to close at 1,964.63 points.

Combined turnover shrank to about 455.7 billion yuan (about 66 billion U.S. dollars) on Wednesday from 495.5 billion yuan the previous trading day.

The coal sector led Wednesday's fall. Shanxi Xishan Coal and Electricity Power lost 1.9 percent to close at 9.3 yuan, and Baotailong New Materials dropped 1.34 percent to close at 7.37 yuan.

Analysts said that liquidity concerns have curbed some investors' appetite for risk.

China's central bank withdrew more money via open market operations for the tenth consecutive day Wednesday.

The People's Bank of China conducted 30 billion yuan of reverse repos, a process by which the central bank purchases securities from banks through bidding, with an agreement to sell them back in the future.

The move saw a net 20 billion yuan drained from the market, offset by 50 billion yuan in maturing reverse repos Wednesday.

According to the government work report delivered at the annual parliamentary session, China will pursue a prudent and neutral monetary policy in 2017, with the M2 money supply growing by around 12 percent, one percentage point lower than the 2016 target.

Author： 　　　Source：xinhua　　　 Editor：Yang Fan