Chinese shares closed lower Monday, with property developers down substantially due to tightened purchasing curbs.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index went down 0.33 percent to 3,341.55. The Shenzhen Component Index closed 1.26 percent lower at 10,930.67. The ChiNext Index, which tracks China's NASDAQ-style enterprises, lost 1.22 percent to close at 1,843.62.

Combined turnover on the two bourses was mildly down to 468.48 billion yuan (more than 70 billion U.S. dollars).

Sectors including rare earth, real estate and automobiles led the declines.

Weighed on by a new wave of home-buying restrictions in several major cities, including Xi'an, Chongqing and Shijiazhuang, the sub-index in the property sector slumped 2.61 percent.

China Vanke, the country's largest developer, fell more than 6 percent to 26.12 yuan per share.

Bucking the trend, heavyweights rose.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country's largest bank, gained 2.17 percent to 6.11 yuan per share, while oil giant PetroChina rose 1.38 percent to 8.06 yuan per share.