BEIJING, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese share prices plummeted 3.69 percent on Monday with the Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A and B shares, closed at 5,119.49 points at the end of morning session.

The Shenzhen Component Index on the smaller bourse ended at 16,511.37 points, down 3.78 percent.

The sharp drop came after the central bank announced on Saturday it would raise the reserve requirement ratio for commercial banks by half a percentage point to a ten-year high of 13.5 percent.

Neighbouring markets also maintained downward trend over credit concerns. By midday, the Hong Kong market fell by more than 3 percent.