Beijing -- China's stocks closed higher on Thursday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 1.53 percent, to close at 2,781.02 points.
The smaller Shenzhen index closed 1.6 percent higher at 9,793.07 points. The ChiNext Index, which tracks China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, gained 1.73 percent to close at 2,126.64 points.