Chinese shares rise on abundant liquidity

Chinese shares rose more than 3 percent on Thursday after the latest central bank report showed abundant market liquidity.

The Shanghai Composite Index passed the 3,300-point mark in the afternoon trading session and continued to rise, closing 3.54 percent higher at 3,336.45 points.

The smaller Shenzhen Component Index closed 2.19 percent higher at 11,483.68 points.

Total turnover on the two bourses increased to 527.7 billion yuan (86.2 billion U.S. dollars) from the previous trading day's 457.6 billion yuan.

Bank and property shares rallied after data showed that China's new yuan loans and total social financing both hit a record high last year, indicating abundant liquidity in the market.

Huaxia Bank jumped 5.93 percent, SPD Bank rose 4.07 percent, and Bank of China soared by 6.10 percent.

China Vanke, the country's largest developer, increased 5.12 percent to 13.77 yuan, while Poly Real Estate, the second largest, rose nearly 8 percent to 11.25 yuan.

Insurance shares were strong on news that measures on old-age insurance for workers in government agencies and public institutions had been unveiled.

Ping An Insurance rose 6.80 percent, China Life Insurance went up 9.9 percent and New China Life Insurance jumped by the daily limit of 10 percent.

Oil shares advanced as crude prices steadied in the global market after plunging for months, with PetroChina leaping 8.66 percent and Sinopec closing 4.86 percent higher.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, closed 0.11 percent lower at 1,586.34 points.