BEIJING -- Chinese stocks closed lower on Monday following speculation the central government will not ease monetary policy in the near future to shore up the economy, which has shown signs of slowing growth.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dipped 2.14 percent, or 45.35 points, to close at 2,078.50.

The Shenzhen Component Index closed at 8,483.69, down 2.93 percent, or 256.36 points.

Combined turnover contracted sharply to 123.15 billion yuan ($19.46 billion) from 149.07 billion yuan the previous trading day.

Losers outnumbered gainers by 917 to 52 in Shanghai and by 1,448 to 69 in Shenzhen.

The Chinese economy slowed to 7.8 percent in the first half of this year, marking its slowest pace of growth in more than three years, said Fan Jianping, director of the Economic Projection Department with the State Information Center, China's top think tank, in a recent interview.

Given the US Federal Reserve's announcement of a third round of quantitative easing last week, investors remained cautious as they fear the Chinese government won't ease monetary policy as quickly as anticipated.

Machinery stocks led the decline. Xi'an Dagang Road Machinery Co Ltd slumped 6.93 percent to 10.20 yuan per share. Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science & Technology Development Co Ltd dropped 6.49 percent to 8.21 yuan.

The property sector was also dampened by worries of more curbs, which will slow real estate sales during the traditional peak season in late September and October.

Poly Real Estate, the country's second-largest property developer, slid 6.72 percent from the previous trading day to close at 9.71 yuan on Monday. China Merchants Property Development Co Ltd slid 7.84 percent to close at 19.15 yuan per share.