AFP, Hong Kong :
Asian markets were mixed on Monday as investors digested reports in US media late last week that President Donald Trump is mulling severe new restrictions on investment in China.
Shanghai and Tokyo slumped the day before a week-long patriotic holiday begins in China, despite assurances from the US Treasury that there were no plans to stop Chinese companies from listing on US exchanges.
On Tuesday the Asian giant celebrates 70 years since the founding of communist China, with markets closed from October 1 to 7, while planned pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong threaten to disrupt festivities.
Shanghai closed down 0.9 percent as some investors took profits, with uncertainty fuelled by fears of an escalation in the US-China trade war that has raged for more than a year.
“The Sino-US trade negotiations have been full of twists and turns,” said Zhang Gang, an analyst with Central China Securities.
“You don’t know what remarks Trump would make in the next seven days, or what variables there will be from the US side. So (investors) have set themselves in a low-key, waiting position.”
It came after China posted better-than-expected manufacturing data for September, but factory activity remained in contraction for the fifth month running.
