* HSI -0.8 pct, H-shares -1 pct, CSI300 -1.5 pct
* China risks stoking inflation with more easing - PremierLi
* Chinese financials hit on private bank pilot report
* HSBC climbs after positive Q3 earnings
By Clement Tan
HONG KONG, Nov 5 (Reuters) - China shares underperformedmost Asian markets early on Tuesday, leading Hong Kong lower,after Premier Li Keqiang signalled a shift towards monetarytightening ahead of a key Communist Party policy meeting thisweekend.
Growth-sensitive sectors led Chinese shares down. Thefinancial sector was further roiled by fears more competitionwill hurt margins after the official China Securities Journalreported a private banking pilot may start early next year.
By 0240 GMT, the CSI300 of the leading Shanghaiand Shenzhen A-shares was down 1.5 percent, while the ShanghaiComposite Index slid 1.1 percent. Both onshore indexestouched their lowest in five sessions.
The Hang Seng Index sank 0.8 percent to 23,005.2points, while the China Enterprises Index of the topChinese listings in Hong Kong shed 1 percent, once againstruggling at its 200-day moving average.
"His comments are different from what people were expecting.He definitely sounds more hawkish now and this is a shift fromwhat he said earlier this year about bottom line growth," saidHong Hao, chief strategist, Bank of CommunicationsInternational.
In comments made in an Oct. 21 speech that was onlypublished in full late on Monday, Li said China needs 7.2percent economic growth to generate 10 million jobs, but thatmore stimulus will be more difficult since printing more moneywill cause inflation.
He added that reform was important and that short-termfiscal or monetary stimulus was not sustainable.
Chinese financials were the biggest drags on benchmarkindexes onshore and offshore. Mid-sized lenders were the biggerlosers, with Ping An Bank sinking 2.3 percent inShenzhen and Industrial Bank tanking 3.8 percent inShanghai.
China Construction Bank (CCB) was amongthe worst performing of the "Big Four" Chinese banks, sliding1.3 percent in Hong Kong and 0.9 percent in Shanghai.
But there were gains for HSBC Holdings ,whose Hong Kong shares climbed 1.4 percent after Europe'slargest bank posted a better-than-expected 10 percent rise inthird quarter profits.
Shares of Lenovo Group rose 0.8 percent afterBlackBerry abandoned its plan to sell itself. Chinesetechnology giant Lenovo had been exploring the possibility ofacquiring the telecom equipment company.