Chinese shares close lower

China's stocks closed lower on Thursday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 1.63 percent at 2,960.97 points.

The smaller Shenzhen index closed 1.52 percent lower at 10,283.68 points, Xinhua news agency reported.

The ChiNext Index, which tracks China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, lost 1.74 percent to close at 2,219.77 points.