China's shares opened higher on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges Monday, the first trading day after the Chinese Lunar New Year of the Dog since they were closed on Jan. 26.

Following impressive rises in the past month before the holiday, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A- and B-shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, rose by 0.6 percent to about 1,272 points after a growth of more than one percent in 10 minutes after resumption of the trading.

Most institutional investors and securities analysts predicted the Shanghai Composite Index is expected to exceed 1,300 points in 2006 due to the share reform and a package of other favorable institutional changes of the country's capital market.

Source: Xinhua