SHANGHAI - Stocks on the Chinese mainland fell to the lowest level in more than two years, after the government pledged to maintain property curbs next year and a slump in the growth of exports to Europe added to concerns the economic slowdown is deepening.

A brokerage in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. Stocks on the Chinese mainland slumped on Monday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index falling to 2291.55, the lowest close since March 20, 2009.[Photo/China Daily]

China Vanke Co and Poly Real Estate Group Co dropped more than 3 percent after the official Xinhua News Agency said China will maintain a "prudent" monetary policy in 2012.

China Shipping Container Lines Co, the country's second-largest carrier of sea-cargo boxes, slid to a three-year low on concerns decelerating exports will cut transport demand.

"The major worry for the economy comes from the property market," said Dai Ming, fund manager at Shanghai Kingsun Investment Management & Consulting Co.

"Investors are very wary of the impact of the curbs on economic growth next year. Investor confidence is very weak and stocks may fall further."

The Shanghai Composite Index dropped 1 percent, to 2291.55, the lowest close since March 20, 2009. The CSI 300 Index fell 1 percent to 2477.69.

A measure of property stocks in the Shanghai Composite slumped 2.4 percent, the most among the five industry groups.

Vanke, the nation's biggest listed property developer, slid 3.2 percent to 7.30 yuan ($1.15). Poly Real Estate, the second-largest, fell 3.5 percent to 9.77 yuan. Gemdale Corp retreated 5.2 percent to 4.57 yuan.

China will maintain its "unswerving stance" on property-market regulation next year to return housing prices to a "reasonable level", Xinhua reported on Dec 9 after the market closed, citing a meeting of the Communist Party's Politburo chaired by President Hu Jintao.

The government will maintain a "prudent" monetary policy and a "proactive" fiscal policy next year, it said.

China Shipping Container slid 1.8 percent to 2.70 yuan, the lowest close since Dec 31, 2008. Cosco Shipping Co, a unit of China's biggest shipping company, fell 1 percent to 4.75 yuan.

Exports rose 13.8 percent year-on-year in November, the customs bureau said over the weekend. Excluding distortions in January and February each year, that was the least since export growth resumed in December 2009. That compared with a 15.9 percent increase in October. The trade surplus fell 35 percent.

Shipments to the European Union rose 5 percent, a quarter of the pace reported in July and August. Sales to Germany, Europe's biggest economy, fell 1.6 percent and those to Italy dropped for a third month.

Europe makes up about 18 percent of China's overseas shipments, according to Shenyin & Wanguo Securities Co.

The value of shares traded on Shanghai's stock market slumped to the lowest in three years on Dec 9, representing a bullish signal for China Merchants Securities Co and Central China Securities Co.

Shares worth 38.9 billion yuan changed hands on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the lowest value since Dec 31, 2008, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

After that low in 2008, the Shanghai index surged 91 percent in the following seven months, spurred by a 4-trillion-yuan stimulus package of building roads, bridges and airports.

"Low trading volume is one signal," said Chen Wenzhao, a strategist at China Merchants Securities Co Ltd in Shanghai, an affiliate of China's fifth-biggest bank.

"More importantly, we've seen a reversal of monetary policies and liquidity will become better and better."

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