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SHANGHAI- China stocks ended higher on Tuesday, led by tech shares, while investors awaited the details of reform measures announced at the 'Third Plenum' meeting amid a slew of weak economic data. Hong Kong shares fell.
** China's economy grew slower than expected in the second quarter amid a protracted property downturn and job insecurity, keeping alive expectations that Beijing will need to unleash more stimulus.
** The highly watched Third Plenum will outline efforts to promote advanced manufacturing, revise the tax system to curb debt risks, manage a vast property crisis, boost domestic consumption and revitalise the private sector. The details will likely come out on Thursday.
** The Shanghai Composite index closed up 0.08% at 2,976.30 while the blue-chip CSI 300 index rose 0.63%.
** The CSI info tech index jumped 3.2%, leading gains in onshore shares.
** Consumer staples, real estate and healthcare stocks rose between 0.06% and 1.25%. The financial sector sub-index fell 0.44%.
** The smaller Shenzhen index ended up 0.49% and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was higher by 1.394%.
** At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was down 271.75 points or 1.51% at 17,769.96. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index fell 1.51% to 6,335.88.
** The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares dipped 0.6%, while the IT sector dipped 1.85%, the financial sector ended 2.03% lower and the property sector dipped 1.71%.
** Shares of Ping An Insurance fell 5.6% in Hong Kong, after the insurer said it had raised $3.5 billion in a convertible bond.
** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.36%, while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 0.2%.
** The yuan was quoted at 7.266 per U.S. dollar at 08:00 GMT, 0.1% weaker than the previous close of 7.259.
(Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Varun H K)