Chinese shares gained 2.73 percent on Wednesday, the second trading day after the earthquake that hit southwestern Sichuan Province on Monday afternoon and made 66 listing companies stop trading on Tuesday.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index concluded the daily trading at 3,657.43 points on Wednesday, up 97.19 points, or 2.73 percent, from the previous close.

The Shenzhen Component Index for the smaller stock exchange in Shenzhen gained 458.11 points, or 3.50 percent, to close at 13,532.34 points.

Combined turnover on the two bourses shrank slightly from Tuesday's 187.65 billion yuan (26.8 billion U.S. dollars) to 186.07 billion yuan on Wednesday.

(Xinhua News Agency May 14, 2008)