Beijing, Oct 30 (IANS): Chinese shares closed lower on Friday, despite soaring childcare-related shares due to reforms of the one-child policy.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index went down 0.14 percent to close at 3,382.56 points, Xinhua news agency reported.
The smaller Shenzhen index lost 0.18 percent to close at 11,546.05 points.
Total turnover on the two bourses expanded to 802.6 billion yuan ($126.4 billion) from 749.7 billion yuan the previous trading day.
China will allow all couples to have two children, abandoning its decades-long one-child policy, the Communist Party of China announced after a key meeting on Thursday.
Shares of childcare-related food, dairy and beverage companies soared. BEINGMATE, an infant formula producer in China, rose by the daily limit of 10 percent to 18.56 yuan per share.
But manufacturing shares led the decline. China Shipbuilding Industry Company Limited dropped by 1.69 percent to 11.06 yuan per share.
The ChiNext Index, which tracks China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, closed 0.28 percent lower at 2,478.28 points.