(Yicai Global) Sept. 7 -- Stock markets on China's mainland fell across the board today, with technology listings leading the decline as chipmakerSemiconductor Manufacturing International plunged.

The ChiNext Price Index, which tracks growth enterprises in Shenzhen, fell 3.3 percent to 2,641.20, with a record CNY354.8 billion of shares changing hands. The Star 50 Index, which follows tech stocks on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style Star Market, ended 2.4 percent down at 1,356.70, the lowest since June 19.

Shares of state-backed SMIC [SHA:688981], the biggest chipmaker on the Chinese mainland, fell 11.3 percent in Shanghai to CNY58.80 (USD8.61), near a 52-week low reached earlier in the day.

Reuters reported on Sept. 4 that the US government is weighing adding SMIC to its trade blacklist because of alleged links with the Chinese military. In a Sept. 5 statement, Shanghai-based SMIC denied any such connections. In Hong Kong, its stock [HKG:0981] closed 23 percent lower at HKD18.24 (USD2.35), after slumping as much as 25 percent.

Investors in Chinese equities today cashed in gains run up over recent months after overseas markets showed signs of a possible major correction late last week.Better-than-expected Chinese trade data for August, released today, failed to stem the market decline.

The large-cap heavy Shanghai Composite Index closed 1.87 percent lower at 3,292.59, while the Shenzhen Component Index stood at 13,284.02, down 2.73 percent.

The dollar-denominated trade surplus rose 9.5 percent in August, the most in nearly one and a half years, to USD58.7 billion as exports from the world’s biggest manufacturing country increased at a faster-than-expected pace.