Chinese stocks closed lower on Friday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 0.33 percent to 3,593.66 points.
The Shenzhen Component Index declined 0.22 percent to 11,168.14 points.
The combined turnover of these two indices stood at 1.7873 trillion yuan, down 57.369 billion yuan from the previous trading day.
The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, fell 0.23 percent to close at 2,340.06 points.
Timothy Pope, a market analyst, recapped Friday's Chinese stock market performance as follows:
"The index is also eying the 3,600-point milestone, which would be a big one for the Shanghai Composite as well. There have been plenty of reasons for investor optimism this week. In several sectors, steel stocks climbed from Monday to Wednesday, alongside rising metals and coal prices. There were also gains for solar panel companies and other green energy tech firms. These are all sectors where China is a global production leader.
"Further gains followed amid growing optimism that China and the U.S. can come to some kind of trade deal. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he is going to have more meetings with Chinese Commerce Ministry officials next week in Sweden," he said.
Chinese shares close lower on Friday
Hundreds of Japanese residents gathered in front of the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo on Thursday evening, demanding that Sanae Takaichi retract her recent erroneous remarks regarding China's Taiwan region.
At a Diet meeting on Nov. 7, Takaichi claimed that the Chinese mainland's "use of force on Taiwan" could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan and implied the possibility of armed intervention in the Taiwan Strait, which has immediately drawn strong criticism at home and abroad.
Holding placards and banners that read "Against war" and "Takaichi resign", the protesters chanted "We don't want a prime minister who incites war! Takaichi, withdraw your remarks immediately! The Takaichi administration must step down now!"
"Stop military expansion! Stop missile deployment immediately!" the protesters also shouted.
"What exactly is Takaichi thinking? Isn't she pushing Japan into war? I believe she must retract her statements immediately. From a diplomatic perspective, as a member of Japan's Diet, she utterly lacks basic common sense. As a Japanese citizen, I truly find her behavior shameful," said a protester.
Takaichi's provocative remarks regrading Taiwan has constituted a serious challenge to Japan's pacifist constitution and its legal obligations as a defeated country in World War II, said the protesters.
"Japan inflicted tremendous harm on Asian countries during the Asia-Pacific War [of World War II]. That is precisely why we pledged 'Never again to wage war, never again to possess weapons,' and established the crucial Article 9 of our Constitution. Therefore, we absolutely cannot accept Takaichi's provocative remarks against China," said another protester.
The Constitution of Japan was enacted in 1947 and is known as the pacifist postwar constitution. The cornerstone of the constitution is Article 9, which renounces the nation's right to engage in war or to resort to military force to resolve international conflicts.
For decades, this article has been a fundamental constraint on Japan's military endeavors.
"Japan has the pacifist constitution and must absolutely not head towards war. We must return to this fundamental principle. Takaichi must immediately stop and retract her remarks. She must apologize, resign and take responsibility for the mistake," said a Japanese protester.
Japanese residents rally, urging PM to retract erroneous remarks regarding China's Taiwan
