China stocks rise on optimism over government’s reform

China stocks rose on Thursday, as investors were inspired by the country’s commitment to maintain steady economic growth next year while deepening structural reforms and curbing financial risks.

At the close, the Shanghai Composite Index was up 13.08 points, or 0.38 percent, at 3,300.06 while the blue-chip CSI300 index was up 0.93 percent.

The Shenzhen Component Index closed 1.04 percent higher at 11,118.25 points.

The ChiNext Index, which tracks China’s NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, gained 0.41 percent to close at 1,789.74 points.

The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite Index were Poly Real Estate Group Co up 7.61 percent, followed by Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co gaining 7.12 percent and China Jushi Co up 7.03 percent.

About 14.21 billion shares were traded on the Shanghai exchange, roughly 88.1 percent of the market’s 30-day moving average of 16.13 billion shares a day. The volume in the previous trading session was 13.77 billion.

Major resources shares rose, as investors bet the industry would benefit from further supply-side reforms that would give incumbents bigger pricing power.

Healthcare and consumer stocks also gained on optimism they would benefit from China’s transition toward quality growth.

Meanwhile, the government’s pledge to reduce risks in the financial system gave a boost to banking shares.

The Chinese government will push forward with structural supply-side reforms and maintain neutral monetary policy in 2018 as it looks to improve the quality of growth, the Xinhua News Agency said on Wednesday, citing top leaders at a key economic planning meeting.