China stocks sink on weak property, finance shares

BEIJING - Chinese stocks tumbled Tuesday as news of continued restrictions in house purchase weighed on property and finance shares.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dived 1.51 percent, or 31.38 points, to close at 2,047.89, while the Shenzhen Component Index finished down 1.87 percent at 8,234.6.

Jiang Weixin, minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, told reporters on the sidelines of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China on Monday that the government will not relax current restrictions on home purchases in the short term.

He added that Chinese government is "actively studying" an expansion of the experimental property tax program in the country and may expand the program when time is appropriate, prompting concerns over the growth outlook of the economy in which property development had played a major part.