ICBC, China's largest lender, plunged 7.78 percent to HK$4.86.

CCB, the country's second largest bank, 7.83 percent to HK$5.65.

Bank of China lost 6.39 percent to HK$3.37.

Bank of Communications, pummeled 6.86 percent to HK$9.09.

Ping An, the second largest insurer in China, dropped 6.33 percent to HK$68.05.

Hong Kong's property companies were much lower. Cheung Kong, one of Hong Kong's largest house developers controlled by tycoon Li Ka-shing, went down 4.62 percent to HK$123.8. Henderson Land fell 4.52 percent to HK$68.7. SHK Properties shrank 5. 21 percent to HK$151.1. New World Development plunged 6.9 percent to HK$23.6. Sino Land plummeted 6.98 percent to HK$24. Hang Lung lost 6.55 percent to HK$28.55.

Resources stocks also dropped to their lowest in recent months. PetroChina, the country's largest oil producer, dived 8.43 percent to HK$11.3. Sinopec, Asia's largest oil refiner, nose- dived 9.1 percent to HK$8.39. CNOOC, China's largest offshore oil company, dropped 6.43 percent to HK$11.06.

China Enterprise Index or H-shares, composed of companies registered on the Chinese mainland, slumped by 1,029.87 points, or 7.07 percent, to 13,531.45 as China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index plunged 266.08 points, or 5.14 percent, in its largest percentage points decline in past six months.

Among the 43 H-share components,  China's largest shipping conglomerate COSCO was the only stock that rose, up by 0.6 percent to 16.7 HK dollars after it disclosed an agreement worth of more than 1 billion US dollars with two ship builders in east China's Jiangsu province for the construction of vessels

Weiqiao Textile and Jiangxi Copper were two H-share companies that remained unchanged. (HK$7.8 = US$1)