Chinese shares opened slightly lower following the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of China State Construction Engineering Corp. on Wednesday.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.16 percent to 3,207.99.

The Shenzhen Component Index lost 0.48 percent to 13,113.66 at the opening.

China State Construction Engineering Corp., the country's largest housing contractor, plans to raise as much as 50.2 billion yuan (US$7.2 billion) in the world's biggest IPO since March 2008.

(Xinhua News Agency July 22, 2009)