Chinese share prices kept rising on Monday with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 0.83 percent or 42.45 points to close at a record 5,150 points.

The index has been hitting new highs since August 20, up more than 450 points during a week.

The Shenzhen Component Index on the smaller stock market gained 0.11 percent or 20.16 points on Monday to close at 17,884.8 points, also a record.

Nonferrous metal producers and steel companies led the advance. Aluminum Corporation of China Limited rose to the daily limit of 10 percent and closed the day at 50.62 yuan per share. BaoSteel jumped 5.51 percent to 34.45 yuan per share.

Heavyweights also rose on Monday. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country's largest state-owned commercial bank, gained one percent to reach 7.06 yuan per share.

The combined turnover on the two bourses expanded to more than 270 billion yuan (US$ 35.5 billion) from 255.95 billion yuan (US$ 33.7 billion) on the previous trading day.

In a report released last on Friday, ratings agency Standard and Poor's said Asian economies would be able to weather the turmoil in global stock and credit markets without "major reversals".

Chinese share prices last Thursday breached the 5,000-point mark for the first time the stock market was established 18 years ago.

After jumping about 130 percent in 2006, the index has surged around 85 percent so far this year despite four interest rate hikes and a slew of other measures to cool the market.

Investors remain confident with the market and show no worries about the soaring index. Statistics with China Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation Limited show that around 475,582 new accounts were opened on last Friday, the highest in eight days.

At present, the market value of the two bourses, with more than 115 million accounts so far, has exceeded China's gross domestic product and reached 22 trillion yuan (US$ 2.9 trillion).

(Xinhua News Agency August 27 2007)