China stocks rise on support for high-tech

Chinese shares closed higher on Friday, helped by a surge in IT-related stocks as the government reiterated support for high-tech and emerging industries.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.31 percent to finish at 2,194.43 points. The Shenzhen Component Index increased 0.16 percent to close at 7,885.33 points.

Total turnover on the two exchanges narrowed to 243.65 billion yuan (39.58 billion U.S. dollars) from 291.8 billion yuan the previous day.

On Thursday, the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner, released a statement online to push forward the development of China's high-tech industries and strategic emerging industries.

Also on Thursday, the Shanghai municipal government released a document to encourage the healthy development of Internet finance firms in the eastern metropolis.

Buoyed by the news, stocks related to the Internet, e-commerce and Internet finance rose across the board on Friday. Zhejiang Netsun Co., Ltd., an Internet firm based in east China's Zhejiang Province, surged 9.99 percent to 23.13 yuan per share.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, also advanced 1.13 percent to 1,377.44 points.

The shipbuilding and coal sectors, however, posted losses, down 0.41 percent and 0.35 percent, respectively.