The blue-chip CSI300 index was up 0.6 per cent at 5,023.06, snapping a four-day losing streak, while the Shanghai Composite Index firmed 0.4 per cent to 3,441.85.
Leading the gains, the CSI300 consumer staples index and the CSI300 healthcare index closed up 3.3 per cent and 2 per cent, respectively.
Top liquor maker Kweichow Moutai Co Ltd rebounded 4.3 per cent after foreign buying via the Stock Connect that links Shanghai and Hong Kong.
China’s factory-gate prices rose at the fastest rate in three and a half years in April as the economy gathers momentum after strong first-quarter growth, but economists downplayed the risks to inflation.
The medium-term correction could be drawing to a close, though investors need pay attention to the central bank’s monetary policy direction, as commodities price hikes led to talks of inflation, Wanlian Securities said in a note.
China’s population grew at its slowest since the 1950s as births declined, sowing doubt over Beijing’s ability to power its economy as it succumbs to the same ageing trends afflicting developed nations such as Japan.
Around the region, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 1.72 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei index closed 3.08 per cent lower.
At 0706 GMT, the yuan was quoted at 6.4302 per U.S. dollar, 0.23 per cent weaker than the previous close of 6.4156.
As of 0707 GMT, China’s A-shares were trading at a premium of 36.94 per cent over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares.
