Beijing, Sep 29 (IANS): Chinese shares closed lower on Tuesday due to shrinking profits of industrial firms and lacklustre performance in major Asian markets.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index shed 2.02 percent to end at 3,038.14 points. The smaller Shenzhen Component Index lost 1.64 percent to close at 9,949.92 points, Xinhua news agency reported.

Total turnover on the two bourses came in at 420.9 billion yuan ($66.12 billion), up from 404.4 billion yuan on the previous trading day.

The decline was attributable to a year-on-year fall of 8.8 percent in the profits of China's major industrial firms in August, which widened from a 2.9-percent decline in July, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

Companies related to coal, cement and aircraft manufacturing were among the biggest losers, while less than 15 percent of companies traded on the A-share market saw their share prices up.

The ChiNext Index, which tracks China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, slipped 1.12 percent to close at 2,098.57 points.