The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed at 2,668.11 points on Friday afternoon, down 3.68 percent or 102 points on its opening level.

The Shenzhen Component Index dropped 102.57 points or 1.4 percent to close at 7,187.03 points. Turnover volume on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges reached 114.89 billion yuan (about 14.36 billion U.S. dollars).

Triggered by a slump in the shares of Sinopec and the Bank of China, more than 1,000 stocks on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges reported declines while only 200 rose.

Sinopec shares dropped 7.34 percent to 9.59 yuan, while Bank of China and ICBC values reported declines of 4.06 percent and 3.27 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, liquor shares, aviation and financial stocks reported strong rises. Stocks of China's two famous breweries Guizhou Maotai and Wuliangye both shot up.

China Life, the first insurer to list on the A-share market on Tuesday, saw its share price rise a further 3.16 percent to 39.5 yuan.

Analysts do not agree about what will happen next week.

Wan Bing, a securities analyst, said there is still room for a market correction, and many analysts expect fluctuations. However, others predicted the market heavyweights would bounce back after this week's correction.

Source: Xinhua