Unicom, Chalco news drives Chinese shares higher

Shanghai: China stocks rose on Monday, buoyed by strong gains in telecoms group China Unicom after the country's securities regulator granted special dispensation to its $11.7 billion ownership reform plan.
The blue-chip CSI300 index ended up 0.4 per cent at 3,740.99 points, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.6 per cent to 3,286.91.
China Unicom Network Communications Ltd, a Shanghai-listed unit of China Unicom, surged by the daily limit of 10 per cent. Its shares had been suspended since April 5.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said late on Sunday that it would treat as "an exceptional case" a plan by China Unicom Network Communications to tap more than a dozen major investors, including Alibaba Group, Tencent Holdings and Baidu, for funding.
The deal had sown much confusion after it was first announced last Wednesday. Chinese media had speculated it violated rules on private placements in terms of deal size and pricing mechanism after the CSRC revised its rules in February.
Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) was the next-strongest component of the CSI300 index, closing 7.7 per cent higher after its president said it had raised output to take advantage of capacity cuts at private rivals.
Chalco's rise lifted the materials sub-index. The sub-index has gained nearly 24 per cent since the beginning of June.