China's stocks fell on Thursday, led by drops of property developers on media reports that the country's banking regulator had asked banks to assess the impact of a possible tumble in housing prices.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slid 0.67 percent, or 17.76 points, to end at 2,620.76 points.

The Shenzhen Stock Index lost 0.94 percent, or 102.30 points, to 10,768.08 points.

Total turnover slightly expanded to 216.33 billion yuan (31.93 billion U.S. dollars) from 209.53 billion yuan on the previous trading day.

Losers outnumbered gainers by 430 to 420 in Shanghai, while gainers outnumbered losers by 519 to 487 in Shenzhen.