BEIJING, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese stocks continued its downward trend Tuesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closing at 2,798.13 points, down 0.57 percent.

The Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.35 percent lower at 9,285.16 points.

Total turnover on the two stock exchanges stood at 308.6 billion yuan (46.18 billion U.S. dollars), shrinking from 325.5 billion yuan the previous trading day.

Liquor and steel producers led Tuesday's decline. Ningxia Xinri Hengli Steel Wire Rope dropped by the daily limit of 10 percent to close at 6.4 yuan per share, while Shede Spirits lost 3.53 percent to close at 33.91 yuan.

Ceramics shares were relatively strong. Guangdong Dowstone Technology went up 5.97 percent to close at 24.66 yuan.

The ChiNext Index, China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, was up 0.29 percent to close at 1,621.63 points Tuesday.