By Dong Zhixin (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2007-09-11 16:12

China's main stock index tumbled more than four percent on Tuesday amid accelerating inflation and the announcement of the Ministry of Finance issuing 200 billion yuan of special treasury bonds.

An investor takes a nap in front of the stock price screen at a securities company in Shanghai, China, in this July 4, 2007, file photo. China's main stock index tumbled more than four percent on Tuesday amid accelerating inflation. [Agencies]

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 4.51 percent, or 241.32 points, to close at 5,113.97, while the Shenzhen Composite Index dropped 5.28 percent to 1,401.02. The CSI 300 Index, covering 300 major firms in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, fell 4.69 percent to 5,124.81.

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The plunge came after the National Bureau of Statistics said the Consumer Price Index jumped 6.5 percent year-on-year in August, the highest in nearly 11 years, sparking fears of a fifth interest rate hike in 2007.

Also pushing down the market is the announcement that 200 billion yuan of special treasury bonds will be sold to the public, the second batch of a planned 1.55 trillion yuan basket to finance the country's new foreign exchange investment firm.

The first 100 billion yuan bonds will be issued later this month in three batches, while sale of the remaining bonds is scheduled for the fourth quarter, the Ministry of Finance said.

Originally, the ministry was not planning to sell these bonds to the public, and the change may suggest a kind of shift in the regulators' attitude towards the equity market, analysts said.

Only 86 out of the more than 1,300 A-share companies posted increases in the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses, and more than 100 firms saw their shares fall by the daily limit of 10 percent.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China tumbled 5.59 percent to close at 6.42 yuan per share, followed by a 4.37 percent fall in Bank of China to 5.91 yuan.

Asia's largest refiner, Sinopec, plunged 4.49 percent, while Baosteel dropped 5.16 percent to 18 yuan, compared with a 6.04 percent decrease in Wuhan Iron and Steel Co. to 17.89 yuan.

Electricity shares were also hard hit, with Datang Power tumbling 7.43 percent to 21.44. China Yangtze Power Co. dropped 6.34 percent to 19.05 yuan.

In the real estate sector, China Vanke fell five percent to 30.78 yuan, and Overseas Chinese Town declined 4.92 percent to 62.99 yuan.