Beijing - Shares in China's main stock market lost another 6.5 per cent on Thursday, one day after a 5-percent rebound had ended a 10-day slump.

The key Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks shares traded in foreign and Chinese currency, closed at 2,748.87 points, down 192.24 points, or 6.54 per cent.

The smaller Shenzhen Component Index also plunged by 7.49 per cent, with shares in banks, petrochemical firms and airlines all falling heavily.

The Shanghai Daily newspaper attributed Thursday's fall to remarks made by central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan in the United States on Wednesday, when he said tackling inflation remained the priority for economic policy.

Zhou's remarks "renewed investors' concerns that the government will step up measures to curb rising prices," while investors were apparently also less optimistic that the government might intervene to bolster the stock markets, the newspaper said.

The big drop on Thursday continued a period of strong daily fluctuations amid an overall downward trend in China's inflated share prices, with analysts expecting recent volatility to continue.

Shanghai Daily on Tuesday said concerns about the economy had "escalated into a loss of confidence in the stock market." (dpa)