The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, a major index of Chinese shares, climbed to close at 2,834.25 points in the morning session on Thursday, up 5.93 percent from the previous close.

Chinese shares opened stronger on Thursday, the first trading day of 2007, with Shanghai Composite, opened at 2,728.19 points, up 52.71 points, or 1.97 percent higher.

The Component Stock Index on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, closed at 6940.06 points in the morning session, up 4.41percent from the previous close.

The turnover on the two exchanges in the morning session was 43.495 billion yuan (5.44 billion U.S. dollars) on the Shanghai bourse and 17.432 billion yuan (2.18 billion U.S. dollars) on the Shenzhen bourse.

Boosted by continuous rise of the stock market since last period, and the declining oil price in the international market, stocks of energy, transportation and financial sectors rose sharply.

China Unicom, Shanghai Bao Steel and China Bank all reported strong rise on the morning.

Source: Xinhua