Chinese stocks inch up after Beijing's fresh stimulus but property stocks slide

By Jiaxing Li and Samuel Shen

HONG KONG, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Chinese stocks made modest gains on Wednesday, finding some support from Beijing's latest package of targeted credit-easing measures, though property stocks slid as steps aimed at helping the sector underwhelmed.

The Shanghai Composite index .SSEC was up 0.2% at 3,837.01 in early trade. China's blue-chip CSI300 index .CSI300 also inched 0.2% higher after hitting a one-year low in the previous session.

Among measures announced late on Tuesday, the People's Bank of China said it would cut the interest rate on its one-year pledged supplementary lending (PSL) facility by 25 basis points to 1.5% from 1.75% to fund investment in water, power grid, computing, telecommunications and other infrastructure projects.

"The policy is in the right direction. But the government has refrained from strong stimulus, unveiling measures that are not adequate," said Charles Wang, chairman of Shenzhen Dragon Pacific Capital Management.

"The economy is very weak, and a recovery in property and consumption is not in sight."

The government also said it will subsidise mortgages for eligible first-time homebuyers, offering to subsidise 1 percentage point of annual interest payments for up to five years.

But Wen Xunneng, CEO of Zhu Liu Asset Management, said that expectations of the new policy had long been priced in, leading to sharp falls for property stocks on Wednesday. China's CSI 300 Real Estate Index .CSI000952 was down nearly 7%.

In Hong Kong, Chinese H-share index Hang Seng China Enterprises Index .HSCE lost 0.6%, and the city's benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI declined 0.5%.