SHANGHAI: China stocks rose on Friday as optimism from evidence of state-backed buying offset lingering worries about the property sector. The Hong Kong market was closed for a public holiday.

Sentiment was boosted by mutual fund disclosure showing state investor Central Huijin has been buying stakes in bluechip funds to bolster the market.

But property shares fell after a string of Chinese property developers, including Vanke, reported weaker financial results for 2023.

The blue-chip CSI300 index was up 0.47%, with its financial sector sub-index higher by 0.03%, the consumer staples sector up 0.28%, the real estate index down 1.99% and the healthcare sub-index down 0.36%.

The smaller Shenzhen index ended up 0.8% and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was higher by 0.626%.

Around the region, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.23%, while Japan’s Nikkei index closed up 0.5%.

At 07:07, the yuan was quoted at 7.2225 per US dollar, 0.04% firmer than the previous close of 7.2256.

The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite index were 3onedata Co Ltd, up 20%, followed by Jiangsu Cai Qin Technology Co Ltd, gaining 19.97% and Shanghai V Test Semiconductor Tech Co Ltd , up by 15.65%.

The largest percentage losses in the Shanghai index were Zhejiang Shengda Bio-Pharm Co Ltd down 10.03%, followed by Metro Land Corporation Ltd losing 10% and Ningxia Zhongke Biotechnology Co Ltd down by 10%.

So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is up 2.2% and the CSI300 has risen 3.1%, while China’s H-share index listed in Hong Kong is up 0.7%. Shanghai stocks have risen 0.86% this month.