Chinese shares open lower; yuan weakens

Beijing : Chinese stocks opened lower on Thursday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 0.75 per cent to open at 2,629.82 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index opened 0.93 per cent lower at 7,854.59 points, Xinhua news agency reported.

Meanwhile, central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, weakened 123 basis points to 6.8599 against the US dollar, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.

In China's spot foreign exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by 2 per cent from the central parity rate each trading day.

The central parity rate of the yuan against the US dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day.