Shanghai - Chinese stocks rose to a new five-year peak on Wednesday, supported by heavyweight China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Sinopec. The yuan weakened against the US dollar.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.3 percent to 1,790.10, its highest close since September 25, 2001's settlement of 1,793.88. The Shenzhen Composite Index inched up 0.05 percent to 448.24.

Index heavyweight Sinopec gained solidly on institutional demand Wednesday, advancing 3 percent to 5.52 yuan.

"Many institutions favored heavyweight Sinopec today to lift the benchmark index," said Zhou Lin, an analyst at Huatai Securities.

"They'd keep the index apparently strong to stir broad optimism on the market and cash out their stock holdings at favorable prices," he added.

Airlines took off after the front-month Nymex light, sweet crude hit an eight-month low overnight, easing concerns over fuel costs.

China Southern Airlines jumped 3.4 percent to 3.06, Air China gained 2 percent to 3.65 and Shanghai Airlines added 1.8 percent to 2.90.

Banks lost ground after recent gains. Hua Xia Bank dropped 1.9 percent to 4.54; China Minsheng Banking shed 1.2 percent to 5.86 and China Merchants Bank slipped 0.6 percent to 10.19.

In currency dealings, dollar gains overnight against the Japanese yen pushed the yuan down against the US unit Wednesday.

On the over-the-counter market the dollar was at 7.9170 around 0730 GMT, up from Tuesday's close of 7.9112.

The US dollar was at 7.9166 on the automatic price matching system around 0720 GMT, up from Tuesday's close of 7.9106.