1st LD Writethru: Chinese shares close higher Thursday

Chinese stocks closed higher Thursday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 3.61 percent to 3,000.95 points. The Shenzhen Component Index closed 4.44 percent higher at 8,916.65 points. The combined turnover of stocks covered by the two indices stood at around 1.16 trillion yuan (about 164.88 billion U.S. dollars), surpassing 1 trillion yuan for the second consecutive day. The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee held a meeting Thursday to analyze and study the current economic situation and make further arrangements for economic work. It was noted at the meeting that the fundamentals of the Chinese economy, and favorable conditions such as a vast market, strong economic resilience and great potential remain unchanged. The country should effectively implement existing policies, step up efforts to roll out incremental policies, further make policy measures more targeted and effective, and strive to accomplish the targets and tasks for this year's economic and social development, according to the meeting. The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, gained 4.42 percent to close at 1,714.14 points Thursday. Source: The Namibia News Agency