Chinese shares closed 0.33 percent lower on Tuesday, hit by an outflow of funds into several initial public offers, but a plan by Shanghai Port to list on the market sparked interest in a range of stocks.
Shanghai International Port (Group), parent of Shanghai Port Container Co Ltd, said on Tuesday it would buy out the shares it did not own in its unit and then list its own shares in a deal worth over US $1 billion.
The news boosted Shanghai Container by its 10 percent daily limit to close at 17.02 yuan, and pushed up shares in firms which analysts think have the potential to be involved in similar deals.
Among such stocks, Shanghai Automotive Co surged the 10 percent limit to 5.93 yuan while Bailian Group Co, the listed unit of China's biggest retail company, closed up 3.59 percent at 8.08 yuan.
"The market welcomes the Shanghai port move, which is part of regulators' efforts to list more blue chips on the domestic markets," said analyst Zhang Qi at Haitong Securities. "This may also herald a market trend in which investors will show growing interest in companies which may be restructured."
The benchmark Shanghai composite index ended at 1,679.126 points. Turnover in Shanghai A-shares was an active 32 billion yuan ($4 billion), although that was down slightly from 36 billion on Monday.