China stocks rallied on Wednesday after President Xi Jinping made comments on its economy and the government unveiled the proposal of its 13th five-year plan, a blue-print for economic and social development between 2016 and 2020. The CSI300 index rose 2.9 percent, to 3,564.30 points at the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 2.6 percent, to 3,402.30 points.
Xinhua news agency quoted Xi as saying China can maintain annual economic growth of around 7 percent over the next five years but there were uncertainties, including weak global trade and high domestic debt. Zhang Qi, an analyst at Haitong Securities in Shanghai, said the market was boosted by Xi's speeches on the country's economy and the five-year plan on financial market reform.
"The correction in the market seemed to finish, yet the trading volume is not really high today, just slightly better than Tuesday." Shenzhen's start-up board ChiNext and the CSI300 IT Index both surged more than 4 percent. The unexpected meeting between Xi Jinping and his Taiwanese counterpart Ma Ying-jeouhas in Singapore on Saturday also boosted shares related to the coastal Fujian province, a key region for closer economic ties between Taiwan and China. For companies, Fujian-related stocks including Fujian Cement , Xiamen Airport and Xiamen ITG hit the daily upward limit of 10 percent. Founder Securities, Soochow Securities and Huatai Security all surged more than 7 percent.
Seperately, Hong Kong shares were boosted by remarks from China's central bank governor saying that a trading link between Hong Kong and Shenzhen stock markets would be launched before year-end. The Hang Seng index added 3.1 percent, to 23,272.66 points, and the Hong Kong China Enterprises Index gained 3.8 percent, to 10,678.08. Sector indexes all surged this moring, with energy index up 5 percent and financial index up 3.4 percent. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing surged more than 9 pct during morning trade.