File photo: VCG

BEIJING, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese stocks closed lower Wednesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 0.29 percent to 2,893.76 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.31 percent lower at 9,414.00 points.

The combined turnover of stocks in the two indexes shrank to 493.64 billion yuan (69.72 billion U.S. dollars) from 558.28 billion yuan the previous trading day.

Losers outnumbered gainers by 726 to 668 on the Shanghai bourse and 1,104 to 943 in Shenzhen.

Shares related to agriculture, shipbuilding and plastics led the gains, while pharmaceutical and financial stocks led the losses.

The ChiNext Index, China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, lost 0.18 percent to close at 1,625.19 points.