Shanghai, Shenzhen bourses see fourth day with combined turnover topping 2 trillion yuan

The combined turnover of China's Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses reached 2.14 trillion yuan (about 302.5 billion U.S. dollars) on Thursday, marking the fourth consecutive trading day with volume exceeding 2 trillion yuan.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was up 1.32 percent to 3,301.93 points, while the Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.82 percent lower at 10,471.08 points.

Shares related to coal, wind power and banking sectors led the gains, while the semiconductor, securities and property sectors suffered major losses.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, lost 2.95 percent to close at 2,212.91 points Thursday.

China's central bank announced Thursday that it has decided to set up Securities, Funds and Insurance Companies Swap Facility (SFISF), with the initial scale of 500 billion yuan (about 71 billion U.S. dollars) for "the healthy and steady development of the capital market."

The SFISF, which is the first monetary policy tool created by China to support the capital market, will allow eligible securities, funds and insurance companies to use their assets including bonds, stock ETFs and holdings in constituents of the CSI 300 Index as collateral in exchange for highly liquid assets such as treasury bonds and central bank bills, the People's Bank of China said in a statement.

This development sparked interest in high-dividend stocks, with stocks controlled by state capital collectively rising.

More than 10 stocks including Metallurgical China (601618.SH), China Railway Group Ltd. (601390.SH) and COFCO Capital (002423.SZ) hit limit up.

Shanghai, Shenzhen bourses see fourth day with combined turnover topping 2 trillion yuan

China and Brazil will hold the 2026 Year of Culture to celebrate bilateral cultural exchange and promote the building of the China-Brazil community with a shared future, China's foreign ministry spokesman said on Friday.

In a joint statement released by the diplomatic, cultural, and tourism departments of China and Brazil, the two countries will celebrate the 2026 China-Brazil Year of Culture. Lin Jian, the spokesman, said at a regular press conference that the celebrations aim to strengthen cultural ties and enhance mutual understanding between the two peoples.

"China and Brazil are a community with a shared future for a more just world and a more sustainable planet. Celebrating the China-Brazil Cultural Year 2026 is an important common understanding between the two heads of state to deepen the building of China-Brazil community with a shared future, and it is another major cultural and people-to-people exchange program following the successful series of cultural events marking the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties in 2024. A wide range of activities will be organized by both countries in the fields of performing arts, visual arts, music, and intangible cultural heritage. I'd refer you to the cultural authorities of both sides for more details," he said.

"China is willing to take the Year of Culture as an opportunity to further expand people-to-people exchanges with Brazil, deepen mutual understanding and friendship, and inject new vitality into the China-Brazil community with a shared future," he said.

China, Brazil to hold Year of Culture to build community with shared future: spokesman