Chinese shares close lower Wednesday

BEIJING, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese stocks closed lower on Wednesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 0.03 percent to 3,503.78 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.22 percent lower at 10,720.81 points.

The combined turnover of these two indices stood at 1.44 trillion yuan (about 201.33 billion U.S. dollars), down from 1.61 trillion yuan on the previous trading day.

Stocks related to sectors including innovative drugs and humanoid robots led the gains, while stocks in the insurance, steel and rare earth permanent magnet sectors suffered the largest losses.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, lost 0.22 percent to close at 2,230.19 points on Wednesday. ■