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Chinese shares closed mixed on Wednesday amid concerns that the central bank will continue to soak up excess liquidity.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 8 points, or 0.27 percent, to 3,007.04.

The Shenzhen Component Index declined 45.4 points, or 0.35 percent, to 12,753.85.

Combined turnover shrank to 248.2 billion yuan (about 37.6 billion U.S. dollars) from 287.95 billion yuan the previous day.

Gainers outnumbered losers by 561 to 295 in Shanghai, and by 827 to 343 in Shenzhen.

In a speech published Tuesday, Hu Xiaolian, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, the central bank, said that China would continue to soap up excess liquidity as the country tries to keep its full-year inflation down to 4 percent in 2011, echoing the central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan's comments that there is no absolute ceiling for the banks' reserve requirement levels.

Their remarks added to worries about further tightening moves that will make it more difficult for enterprises to get loans.

Banks and property developers led the fall. Industrial Bank Co. Ltd. dropped 3.29 percent to 29.97 yuan. Poly Real Estate Group Co., Ltd. fell 4.04 percent to 13.76 yuan.

Boosted by the news that the threshold of the country's personal income tax could be raised to 3,000 yuan, consumption-related stocks rallied with Shanghai Friendship Group Incorporated Company rising 6.16 percent to 18.09 yuan.

As gold hit a record by rising to over 1,500 U.S. dollars an ounce, Zhongjin Gold gained 4.9 percent to 39.57 yuan and Shandong Humon Smelting rose 3.6 percent to 49.77 yuan.

Coal miners also gained with China Shenhua Energy rising 0.38 percent to 29.43 yuan and China Coal Energy going up 0.28 percent to 10.86 yuan.

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