1st LD-Writethru: Chinese shares close mixed Wednesday

BEIJING, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese stocks closed mixed on Wednesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 0.03 percent to end at 3,081.18 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.18 percent higher at 10,342.84 points.

Combined turnover on the two bourses stood at 385.2 billion yuan (about 60.2 billion U.S. dollars). Losers outnumbered gainers 697 to 580 on the Shanghai bourse and 1,172 to 724 in Shenzhen.

Shares of liquor makers gained, boosted by solid growth in their first-quarter net profits. Wuliangye Yibin Co. gained 4.8 percent to 71.22 yuan, while Anhui Kouzi Distillery Co. climbed 3.5 percent to 48.92 yuan.

The pharmaceutical sector gained, with Chengdu Taihe Health Technology Group Inc., Ltd., Zhejiang Xinguang Pharmaceutical Co. and Tibet Rhodiola Pharmaceutical Holding Co. all surging by the daily limit of 10 percent to 6.77 yuan, 23.19 yuan and 42.56 yuan per share, respectively.

Shares in the financial sector, coal mining and raw materials fell. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country's largest lender by market value, edged down 0.3 percent to 5.98 yuan. China Shenhua, the largest coal mining company in the country, lost 3.3 percent to 20.26 yuan. Enditem