Equities decline amid concern over property tightening

SHANGHAI - Mainland stocks fell the most in a week after the Xinhua News Agency reported regulators will "strictly implement" policies aimed at curbing housing prices and Citic Securities Co said the rally for small caps may end.

"You won't see very impressive growth in the real estate sector in the foreseeable future as the government won't phase out its curbing measures until there's a real fall in property prices," said Zhao Zifeng, who helps oversee about $10.2 billion at China International Fund Management Co in Shanghai.

The Shanghai Composite Index dropped 15.92, or 0.6 percent, to 2622.88 on Wednesday. The CSI 300 Index retreated 0.7 percent to 2884.04, led by healthcare and technology companies. The CSI Smallcap 500 Index fell 1.3 percent, snapping a gain of 5.1 percent over the past four days.