A share holder on Monday closely watches the information board at a stock exchange in Beijing. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index exceeds 2,000 points Monday morning, the first time in five years. [Xinhua]

Meanwhile, the central government has quickened the pace of allowing more foreign capital into the stock market. The government granted 400 million dollars in new quotas in the past week to qualified foreign institutional investors (QFIIs), bringing the overall quota to 8.645 billion dollars.

"Those new funds are mainly invested in bank shares and other blue chips, which have steady and continual growing potential," said Zhang Qi, an analyst with Haitong Securities.

China Merchants Bank, which gained 1.1 per cent on Friday, jumped 6.6 percent to 13.50 yuan (1.7 dollars). Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, the country's largest lender, climbed 3.2 percent to 3.92 yuan (49.6 U.S. cents) after gaining 9.8 percent last week.

"Increasing confidence in the country's economy has boosted bank shares, which directly reflects the country's macro-economic situation," said Dorris Chen, senior analyst with BNP Paribas.

"Also, expectations of an appreciation of the Chinese currency are helping yuan-denominated shares to rise," he said.

Another heavyweight blue chip, Sinopec Corp, Asia's largest oil refiner, surged 7.8 percent to 7.87 yuan (99.6 U.S. cents) following Nymex crude's fall to a 17-month low at Friday's close.

Zhang Yichi, who manages a mutual stock fund that sold out within two days, believes the market would remain bullish next month. He predicted that the return for mutual fund investors next year will reach up to 25 to 30 percent.

The market capitalization of the Shanghai Stock Exchange crossed 5,000 billion yuan (633 billion dollars) on November 15.

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