(Yicai Global) March 6 -- China's mainland stock markets opened lower this morning after the US market tumbled over 3 percent yesterday.

The Shanghai Composite Index opened 1.03 percent lower at 3,039.94. The Shenzhen Component Index set out at 11,555.46, down 1.33 percent, and the ChiNext Price Index, which tracks growth enterprises in Shenzhen, slipped 1.41 percent to 2,178.50.

Pesticide shares flowed against the market current after the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs declared yesterday that fall armyworm moth, an invasive species from the Americas and a major cross-border migratory agricultural pest, has infiltrated China and will pose a major threat to its harvest this year.

Beijing-based leading agricultural chemical producer Sino-Agri Leading Biosciences [SHA:603970] hit the 10 percent daily limit up just after opening to stop trading at CNY16.38 (USD2.36).

Editor: Ben Armour