SHANGHAI: China shares fell on Monday, dragged down by property stocks and financial firms, after the central bank said it would not use real estate as a short-term method to stimulate the economy.

The CSI300 index fell 0.7% to 4,569.70 by the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.6% to 3,441.23. The Hang Seng index dropped 1.3% to 24,594.21. The Hong Kong China Enterprises Index lost 1.7% to 8,634.90.

** The People's Bank of China (PBOC) will meet the reasonable financing demands of the real economy while not resorting to flood-like stimulus, it said in its fourth-quarter implementation report.

China shares fall on profit-taking, foreign outflows

** The central bank also said it will fend off systemic financial risks and will not use real estate as a short-term method of stimulating the economy, sending real estate developers down 3.4%.

** Financials lost 2.6%, with brokerage firms down 3.8%.

** New energy shares added 0.4%. Battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd climbed nearly 4%, rebounding from its biggest ever weekly drop after it denied a few online speculations.

** Tech giants and financial names dragged Hong Kong stocks lower, weighed down by warnings that Russia could invade Ukraine at any time and as an alarmingly high US inflation reading sparked worries of a more aggressive Federal Reserve.

** The United States on Sunday said Russia might create a surprise pretext for an attack, as it reaffirmed a pledge to defend "every inch" of NATO territory.

** The Hang Seng Tech Index lost 1.7%, while the Hang Seng Finance Index retreated 0.8%.

** Food-delivery firm Meituan and insurers Ping An and China Life plunged more than 3% each.

** Mainland developers listed in Hong Kong tumbled 4.7%, with Sunac down nearly 10% after Moody's downgrade.

** China Aoyuan slumped nearly 10%, after it said January unaudited property contracted sales were about 1.92 bln yuan, down more than 80% from January 2021.