Shanghai's key stock index jumped the most in seven trading days today as auto makers and refiners gained on speculation the government will widen assistance to industries hurt by the global financial crisis.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 6.05 percent, or 115.04 points, to 2,017.47 points at 3pm.

Losers outnumbered gainers 812 to eight and one did not change.

The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks the smaller domestic market, was up 6.16 percent, or 32.33 points, to 557.31 points.

FAW Car Co, the Chinese partner of Mazda Motor Corp advanced the daily cap of 10 percent to 6.57 yuan (US$0.96). Tianjin FAW Xiali Automobile Co, the Chinese maker of US$5,000 compact cars, surged 10 percent to 3.33 yuan. SAIC Motor Corp, China’s biggest auto maker rose 6.98 percent to 6.13 yuan.

Automakers in China are seeking government aid and lower sales taxes to help revive waning demand in the world’s second-largest vehicle market, said Zeng Qinghong, general manager of Guangzhou Automobile Group Co, a partner of Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co.

Chinese auto makers joined counterparts in the United States and Europe in asking for government help as the global recession damps demand for new vehicles. Sales in China may grow as little as 5 percent next year, compared with a 22 percent increase last year, according to auto makers.

China Petroleum, also known as Sinopec, surged 10 percent to 8.37 yuan. PetroChina Co, the nation’s second-biggest refiner and the biggest market component, gained 7.49 percent to 11.91 yuan. Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co, China’s largest maker of ethylene, added 4.99 percent to 4.42 yuan.

China, the world’s second-largest energy user after the US, will introduce a retail fuel tax “soon,” Han Wenke, the head of energy research at the National Development and Reform Commission, the nation’s economic planner, said yesterday. He declined to give details.

Elsewhere, Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-Earth Hi-Tech Co added 6.38 percent, to 7.67 yuan. The company said yesterday it signed an initial cooperation agreement with Australia’s Arafura Resources Ltd for information exchange on rare-earth processing technology and marketing.

Citic Securities Co, the nation's largest brokerage by market value, closed 6.44 percent higher to 20.17 yuan. Hongyuan Securities rose 8.40 percent to 14.20 yuan.

Investors opened 261,846 accounts to trade equities on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges from November 10 to November 14, compared with 168,979 accounts the previous week, according to data from the China Securities Depository and Clearing Corp.

(Shanghai Daily November 19, 2008)