(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-01-25 17:33

Chinese shares closed slightly higher on the week's last trading day.

Related readings:  Chinese shares end slightly higher on strong GDP data Chinese shares continue to surge  Chinese shares up amid slumping Asian stock markets  Chinese shares tumble 2.59%

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A and B shares, climbed 43.95 points, or 0.93 percent, to 4,761.69.

The Shenzhen Component Index finished up 207.41 points, or 1.21 percent, at 17,294.01.

Gains led losses by 448 to 430 in Shanghai while losses led gains by 347 to 319 in Shenzhen. Aggregate turnover shrank to 199.85 billion yuan ($27.4 billion) from 226.2 billion yuan on Thursday.

The shares opened lower in the morning following a dramatic fall in Hong Kong on Thursday but soon recovered as heavyweights, such as banks and property, rose sharply.

Chinese banks seemed unaffected by the news that a trader at Societe Generale was accused of racking up a seven-billion-dollar loss in bad bets on stocks in the biggest trading scandal in investment banking history.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rose 1.58 percent to 7.06 yuan. China Construction Bank climbed 3.23 percent to 8.62 yuan. China Vanke was up 6.59 percent at 27 yuan.

Stocks in Tokyo, Sydney and Seoul extended gains to 1.5 to 3.5 percent to recoup much of this week's losses.

The US Dow Industrial Average ended up 108.44 points as US President George W. Bush and congressional leaders agreed on Thursday on a 150-billion-dollar package of tax rebates and business incentives to ward off fears of a recession in the world's largest economy.

The Chinese currency, the yuan, rose to a new high of 7.2065 per US dollar on Friday, its third rise in as many days. Analysts said the US currency's general weakness and the mounting inflation pressure in China were two major factor's in the yuan's rise.

The National Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 11.4 percent year-on-year to 24.6619 trillion yuan ($3.43 trillion) in 2007, but the risks of spiralling inflation and economic overheating were also rising.

The yearly figure of CPI (consumer price index) rose 4.8 percent, the highest level in more than a decade, stirring fears of further tightening measures.

Despite rising concerns over monetary tightening, some institutions believed the Chinese market would remain bullish in 2008. A report from China Construction Bank said the central bank will not raise interest rates dramatically in the year.

In an effort to improve the credit management in the securities sector, Chinese securities regulators were set to establish a credit system to blacklist law violators, most of whom were executives of listed companies, said a report in Friday's Shanghai Securities News.

Ren Daigen, head of the Credit Reference Center of the People's Bank of China, said the move would help control risks in the capital market, and the central bank and the securities regulators have reached consensus in this regard.