Chinese shares continued its upward trend for the fourth consecutive trading day and rose 1.99 percent Wednesday, driving the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index to a new 10-month high since August last year.

The Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.99 percent, or 54.29 points, to close at 2,778.59 points Wednesday.

The Shenzhen Component Index went up 2.17 percent, or 227.98 points, to 10,712.31.

Gains outnumbered losses by 539 to 291 in Shanghai and 485 to 254 in Shenzhen.

Combined turnover slightly shrank to 238.79 billion yuan (US$34.96 billion) Wednesday from 240.42 billion yuan on the previous trading day.

(Xinhua News Agency June 3, 2009)