Chinese stocks slide on earnings fears Chinese stocks slid sharply on Wednesday on rising concerns that slowing growth will hit corporate earnings in the coming quarters. Investors punished those companies that reported below-par results and by the close, the Shanghai Composite index had fallen 2.7 per cent to a two-month low of 2,284.88, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 0.9 per cent to 20,851.99. Gome Electrical Appliances fell 19.2 per cent to HK$1.68 after it reported following Tuesday's close that its annual profit fell by a worse-than-expected 6.2 per cent. Jiangxi Copper, meanwhile, fell 5.5 per cent to Rmb24.69 after reporting an 18 per cent drop in net earnings for 2011, missing market forecasts. The Hong Kong listed shares lost 2.8 per cent to HK$18.22. Also in the industrial metals sector Angang Steel slid 3.1 per cent to Rmb4.39 after its net loss for the six months to the end of December widened to Rmb1.93bn from Rmb713m in the previous year. Data compiled by Bloomberg showed that more than 400 companies have reported annual profit and on average they posted growth of 17 per cent, down from 38 per cent a year ago. Meanwhile, National Bureau of Statistics data suggested profit growth has also slowed in the first two months of 2012, with industrial companies posting their first January-February profit declines since 2009. "While some of the lower profit readings may be due to this year's early Chinese New Year, the trend towards weakening Chinese data witnessed over the past couple of months has been significant," said Hans Redeker at Morgan Stanley. The FTSE Asia Pacific index was down 0.4 per cent to 246.06 in late trade. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 Average fell 0.7 per cent to 10,182.57, while Taipei's Taiex index inched 0.1 per cent higher to 8,038.07. In Tokyo, consumer electronics group Sharp jumped 15.2 per cent to Y570 after announcing an LCD tie-up with Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry. Shares in Hon Hai gained 4.6 per cent to T$113.