Stocks rally after 'policy weapon' assurance

An investor smiles in front of a screen displaying stock indices and prices of shares at a securities brokerage in Fuyang, East China's Anhui province, Nov 24, 2014. [Photo/IC]

Chinese stocks rallied to a five-year high on Monday, led by logistics, sports and software sectors, after Premier Li Keqiang expressed confidence to keep growth on track.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite index climbed 2.26 percent to its highest level since August 2009, closing at 3,449.3, while Shenzhen Component index advanced 2.6 percent to 12,017.77.

Logistics shares led the gain on Monday, as Sinotrans Air Transportation Co, Xinning Logistics, Yangtze River Investment and CTS Global Logistics Co jumped by the daily limit of 10 percent.

Benefiting from the newly launched reform announcement, sports sector rallied on Monday, with sportswear companies GRN Group and Jiangsu Sainty Corp up 10 percent.

Software and Internet sector also led the gain, with Hundsun Technologies and LeTV surging more than 9 percent.

The key to China's success this year will be to balance growth and reform – namely growth in regular business and reform of the economic structure, said the premier at the news conference after the National People's Congress annual session.

Li added that China has an ample stock of "policy weapons" that can be used when necessary to prevent the slowdown from worsening.

The CSI 300 Index rose 2.43 percent or 88.01 to 3,705.67 on Monday.