BEIJING, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese shares continued an upward trend on Thursday, led by airline stocks.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.94 percent to 3,246.57 points while the Shenzhen Component Index climbed 0.73 percent higher to 10,415.8 points.
Combined turnover of stocks on the two indices broke the 1 trillion level to stand at 1.005 trillion yuan (about 149.7 billion U.S. dollars), rebounding from 933.4 billion yuan the previous trading day.
Airline stocks led the gains. Shares of China Eastern Airlines Corporation Limited rose over the daily 10-percent limit to 8.24 yuan while China Southern Airlines Company Limited jumped 9.29 percent to 9.65 yuan.
The strong performance of airline stocks came after the announcement of the policy that China will half the civil aviation development fund starting July 1, according to the State Council executive meeting held Wednesday.
The meeting also put forward many other measures to reduce government-levied charges and operating service charges in order to further lessen the burden on businesses and individuals.
The ChiNext Index, China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, gained 0.51 percent to close at 1,777.26 points Thursday.
