Chinese equities closed higher Monday led by resource-related stocks and heavyweights.

Copper and other resource-related stocks rose following the massive quake in Chile that triggered a rally in copper prices.

Yunnan Copper Co., Ltd. jumped by the daily limit of 10 percent to 28.05 yuan per share. Anhui Jingcheng Copper Share Co., Ltd. also jumped 10 percent to 15.5 yuan per share. Jiangxi Copper Co., Ltd. surged 9.99 percent to 38.54 yuan per share.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.18 percent to end at 3,087.84 points, up 35.9 points. The Shenzhen Component Index gained 1.22 percent to close at 12,588.26 points, up 151.61 points.

Combined turnover Monday was 226.67 billion yuan (33.2 billion U.S. dollars), up from 213.85 billion yuan on the previous trading day.

Winners outnumbered losers by 717 to 150 in Shanghai and 694 to 168 in Shenzhen.

Heavyweight insurer stocks gained. Ping An, the country's second largest insurer, rose 3.7 percent to 46.7 yuan. The shares of China Life, the country's largest insurer, gained 3.4 percent to 27.9 yuan.

The demand for insurance shares Monday followed deep falls last week after Ping An said last Tuesday 859.82 million shares held by three shareholders would become tradable on March 1 after the lock-up period expired.