1st Ld-Writethru: Chinese stocks plunge after "L-shaped economy" prediction

Chinese stocks tumbled on Monday after a prominent newspaper quoted an "authoritative figure" dismissing the idea of a quick return to rapid economic growth in China.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index went down 2.79 percent, at 2,832.11 points. The Shenzhen index closed 3.07 percent lower at 9,790.48 points.

Total turnover on the two bourses shrank to 499.6 billion yuan (76.7billion U.S. dollars) from 661.7 billion yuan the previous trading day. More than 100 stocks fell by the daily limit of 10 percent.

The unnamed source quoted by the People's Daily on Monday said China's economy will not see a U-shaped or a V-shaped rebound, but will follow an L-shaped path, which will last for some time, and will not be over for one or two years.

In Chinese state media, "authoritative figure" is usually code for high-level officials.

Export and import data for April also dampened market sentiment.

China's exports in yuan-denominated terms rose 4.1 percent year on year in April, while imports dipped 5.7 percent, the General Administration of Customs said on Sunday.

Export growth in April was much milder than the 18.7-percent increase in March, while imports fell at a faster pace than the 1.7-percent drop the previous month.

The ChiNext Index, which tracks China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, lost 3.55 percent to close at 2,053.6 points on Monday. Endi