Mainland exchanges boosted by Premier Li’s comments

Chinese mainland stock markets saw a strong gain on Monday after comments by Premier Li Keqiang boosted investors' confidence in the country's economy.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose to a 67-month high, with a gain of 2.27 percent or 76.39 points to 3,449.31 points on Monday.

The Shenzhen Component Index rose by 2.60 percent or 304.16 points to 12,017.77 points.

The CSI 300 Index of the biggest companies traded in Shanghai and Shenzhen jumped by 2.43 percent or 88.01 points to 3,705.67 points.

Total turnover on the two bourses was 911.73 billion yuan ($145.53 billion) on Monday, up from Friday's 671.82 billion yuan.

Li said on Sunday that China has sufficient policy tools to keep its economy growing, playing down concerns over slower growth.

Li also that "Internet Plus" is set to push the Chinese economy to a higher level. "Internet Plus" aims to enhance the integration of mobile Internet services, cloud computing, big data and the Internet of things with modern manufacturing industry.

Shares linked to airlines and IT jumped by more than 5 percent on average on Monday, and even the worst-performing sector - banks - rose almost 1 percent on average.

China Southern Airlines soared by the daily limit of 10 percent to 7.11 yuan and Industrial Bank rose by 3.46 percent to 17.06 yuan.

Meanwhile, FAW Car Co dropped by 1.92 percent to 18.90 yuan following media reports on Sunday that the country's corruption watchdog had begun an investigation into the chairman of FAW Group, the parent company of FAW Car Co.

ChiNext, the country's NASDAQ-style board for high-tech and emerging start-ups, reached a record high on Monday, jumping by 3.56 percent or 73.60 points to 2,142.67 points.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index rose by 0.53 percent or 126.34 points to 23,949.55 points.