China stocks rebound as market sentiments improve

Chinese shares closed higher on Friday, the first trading day after the week-long Spring Festival holiday, propped up by China's upcoming "two sessions" political summits and enterprises' optimism over their annual reports.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.56 percent, or 11.41points, to finish at 2,044.5. The Shenzhen Component Index climbed 0.58 percent, or 43.94 points, to close at 7,616.57.

Combined turnover on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges increased to 181.78 billion yuan (29.76 billion U.S. dollars) from 157.8 billion yuan the previous trading day.

Nearly 60 percent of 1,734 listed enterprises that have released their preliminary annual reports were optimistic about how they performed last year, with 398 firms estimating that their profits surged by over 100 percent, the Shanghai Securities News reported on Friday.

Companies listed on the two bourses are expected to unveil their annual reports by the end of April.

In addition, the upcoming Second Session of the 12th National People's Congress and the second annual session of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference also boosted investors' market sentiments.

Shipbuilding, medical instrument manufacture and glass making led the rises. CSSC Jiangnan Heavy Industry jumped 6.95 percent to 9.7 yuan per share, while Shinva Medical Instrument Co. surged 8.19 percent to 90.52 yuan.

Bucking the trend, the banking and insurance sectors suffered. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China's largest bank by assets, tumbled 0.29 percent to 3.4 yuan per share, while Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China lost 2.38 percent to finish at 38.21 yuan.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, gained 2.45 percent, or 36.71 points, to end at 1,532.69 points on Friday.