Also on Monday, the central bank lowered the reserve requirement ratio for small and medium-sized banks, which demonstrated government resolve to boost the economy, analysts said.

Qin said the adjustment was positive and indicated a major change in the government's macro-economic policies.

He added that Chinese stocks were not expected to witness a turnaround in the near future based on current conditions.

The upcoming launch of the Shenzhou-7 spacecraft stimulated aviation stocks, which resisted the overall market plunge. China Spacesat Co. gained 4.12 percent to 16.19 yuan and Long March Launch Vehicle Technology Co. gained 2.5 percent to 8.61 yuan.

Hong Kong stocks end 5.44 pct lower

Hong Kong's benchmark Hang SengIndex plunged 1052.29 points, or 5.44 percent, to close at 18,300.61 Tuesday, amid worries of a global financial turmoil after investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed.

Turnover rose to 88.42 billion HK dollars (11.37 billion U.S. dollars) from last Friday's 57.77 billion HK dollars (7.42 billionU.S. dollars).

The benchmark Index plunged 1,027.25 points, or 5.31 percent, to open at 18,325.65 Tuesday, and fluctuated between 18,019.20 and 18,538.51.

Taiwan stocks fall 4.88%

Taiwan's share prices closed lower Tuesday, with the weighted index moving down 295.86 points, or 4.88 percent, to close at 5,756.59, according to media reports from Taipei.

Amid concern over the impact of the U.S. investment bank LehmanBrothers' financial  woes, the local bourse opened at 5,748.17 andfluctuated between 5,851.9 and 5,724.52.  A total of 3.53 billion shares changed hands on market turnover of 82.44 billion New Taiwan dollars (2.57 billion U.S. dollars).

All eight major stock categories  lost ground, with banking andfinancial issues moving down the most at 6.8 percent. Constructionstocks as well as paper and pulp issues both lost 6.7 percent, cement stocks declined 6.6 percent, foodstuff stocks dropped 6.5 percent, textile shares decreased 6 percent, plastics and chemicals shares were down 5.1 percent, and machinery and electronics shares dropped 4.1 percent.

Losers outnumbered gainers 1,734 to 171, with 262 stocks remaining unchanged.

(Xinhua News Agency September 16, 2008)