After opening weaker on Wednesday, Chinese shares regained ground, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index edging up 49.28 points, or 0.91 percent, to close at 5,435.81.

The Shenzhen Component Index on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange closed at 18,597.61 points Wednesday, up 329.48 points, or 1.8 percent.

The agriculture sector led the rise, with four shares surging by the 10 percent daily limit and 10 rising by more than 7 percent. The government support measures announced after the work conference in late December gave a boost to the companies, analysts said.

The long-awaited gold futures contract debut on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SFE) pushed up gold-related shares' prices, with Zhongjin Gold Company up 3.58 percent to 138.95 yuan (about 19 U.S. dollars) and Shandong Gold Mining Company surging 3.75 percent to 227.35 yuan.

Xinjiang Ba Yi Iron & Steel Company rose by the daily ceiling of 10 percent to 23.43 yuan after saying it expected a 157 percent increase in net profit to more than 400 million yuan. Investors bought into the steel sector as they expected handsome profits from the industry this year.

Aggregate turnover rose to 213.13 billion yuan, down from 282.69 billion yuan. The two bourses reported 1,461 gains and 105 losses.

Blue chips were generally weak as investors feared that shares bought by institutional investors in recent initial public offerings would flood the market as lock-up periods ended.

China Eastern Airlines plunged in early trading before it recovered to close 1.75 percent lower at 20.27 yuan. Shareholders voted on Tuesday to reject a proposal by Singapore Airlines to buy a strategic 24 percent stake.

China Shenhua Energy rose 1.86 percent to 68.83 yuan after an investment in Indonesia was approved by the National Development and Reform Commission, which announced it on the website.

(Xinhua News Agency January 10, 2008)