China's stock markets have regained its growth momentum after a two-month correction, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index shooting up to a new high of 4,415.29 points in Monday's morning session.

The bullish advance presented a sharp contrast with the tumble in global stock markets beginning last Thursday as local sentiment focuses more on domestic elements including the sanguine half-year financial reports of listed companies.

The Shanghai Composite Index covering both yuan-denominated A shares and US dollar-denominated B-shares opened at 4,348.61 points, up 3.25 points from the previous close.

Deng Hanxue, analyst with the Guoyuan Securities Company, said the opening price should have been higher but for the global tumble last week.

The Shanghai index hit a morning high of 4,433.66 points while the Shenzhen Component Index on China's smaller stock market rose 2.59 percent or 378.34 points to close at 14,992.44.

The combined turnover of China's two bourses hit 126.22 billion yuan in the morning session, more than half of the 215.2 billion yuan for the whole day of Friday.

The bullish advance on the Shanghai stock market was led by property, iron and steel and petrochemical shares, registering 751 rises, 124 drops and another 124 level-offs.

China Vanke, the nation's biggest publicly traded property developer, closed 6.3 percent higher at 29.02 yuan.

Boosted by the news that China's central government will channel US$ 10 billion into energy conservation projects, companies engaged in environmental protection and energy conservation technologies have all risen fast, with the Renfu Science and Technology growing by the highest 10.06 percent from the opening price of 8.97 yuan.

Deng said that the market has been fully prepared for the expansion of QDII services and shrugged off the news that Nanfang and Huaxia have become the first two fund management companies authorized to provide outbound investment services as qualified domestic institutional investors.

The Shanghai Composite Index and the Shenzhen Component Index rose 7 percent and 8.92 percent respectively last week after China raised interest rates for deposits and loans and lowed interest tax, a latest move to cool the rapidly expanding economy.

The market value of the two bourses rose 7.98 percent last week to 19.3 trillion yuan on Friday.

(Xinhua News Agency July 30 2007)