Chinese shares tumbled 3.44 percent in the morning session on Monday with the Shanghai Composite Index ending at 1,931.75 points, down 68.82 points or 3.44 percent from the previous close.

The smaller Shenzhen Component Index ended at 6,109.95 points, down 275.4 points or 4.31 percent.

The two major index both opened lower on Monday. The Shanghai Composite Index opened at 1,978.56 points, down 22.01 points or 1.1 percent from the previous closing while the Shenzhen Component Index opened at 6,330.19 points, down 55.17 points or 0.86 percent.

Oil and chemical sectors led the fall. PetroChina slid 4.61 percent to 11.6 yuan. Sinopec dropped 3.98 percent to 9.42 yuan.

Banks and power companies were better with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rising by 0.25 percent and Huadian Power International Corp. up 1.39 percent.

Encouraged by pro-agriculture news, the agricultural sector rose. The country's ruling Communist Party said on Sunday it would improve the system of economic growth in the countryside and build a mechanism to integrate urban with rural areas in terms of economic and social development.

Share prices in neighbouring markets rose at the opening but soon began to fall as worries in global economic prospects persisted.

Shares of Australia and the Republic of Korea bounced on Monday after policy makers around the world took further steps to face up to the turbulence of the international financial market.

In a volatile session Friday in New York, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 128, or 1.49 percent, to 8,451.49, gyrating within a 1,000 point range. The average had its worst week on record in both point and percentage terms.

(Xinhua News Agency October 13, 2008)