China's A-shares posted modest gains on Friday, driven by a surge in investor confidence, according to a market analyst.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.41 percent to 3,889.35 points.
The Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.84 percent higher at 13,258.33 points.
Timothy Pope, a market analyst for China Global Television Network (CGTN), highlighted that the Central Economic Work Conference took center stage this week, with market sentiments aligning positively with the official outcomes of the meeting.
The annual Central Economic Work Conference was held in Beijing from Wednesday to Thursday as Chinese leaders decided priorities for the economic work in 2026.
"The big thing this week, obviously was the Central Economic Work Conference. The market, I think got what it was looking for in the official readout of that meeting. There was similar support for economic growth that we saw come out of the fourth plenum meeting in November, reaffirming some of the things we're expecting to see in the next Five-Year Plan (2026-2030). The Shanghai Composite Index was up about 0.5 percent by the end of today's session as investors really digested the prospects for more fiscal spending, boost to consumption and investment, and also the prospect of some monetary easing. Banks traded modestly lower actually on the prospect of these lower interest rates, but we saw most of the other sectors trading higher really, the announcements were well received," said Pope.
"A couple of semiconductors are worth mentioning today. One of those, ACM Research Shanghai, jumped sharply this afternoon. It ended about 8 percent higher. That came after a Reuters report that said that Intel has been testing its chipmaking equipment with a view to using it in the manufacture of some of Intel's most advanced chips. Now this will probably ruffle some manufacturers in the U.S. because ACM [has been] actually under U.S. sanctions since last year, on the grounds that it's a threat to U.S. national security -- something,of course, which ACM strongly denies. So the prospect of Intel using ACM tech is perhaps a bit controversial. Also in the spotlight was the newly-listed Moore Threads Technology, the Chinese GPU maker. Its shares fell by 13.4 percent today after it warned of trading risks in its shares. Now, this seems like it was code for 'cool it a bit', because the shares have absolutely blitzed the markets since they listed a week ago. They're up something like sevenfold. Their first day jump was in the excess of 400 percent. So, while today's pullback is sort of big by normal market standards, on the strength of how it's been trading so far, a 13.5-percent dip is peanuts for this company's stock at the moment," he said.
Elsewhere, we also saw some pretty decent performances for copper and gold stocks. We saw the prices of both metals hitting record highs. I think it was an all-time record for copper and a one-month high for gold. So all-in-all for the Chinese mainland not a bad Friday," said the analyst.
China stocks rise on policy support hopes: analyst
The heartbreaking story of 96-year-old Peng Zhuying, one of the last living survivors from the Japanese military's "comfort women" system in the Chinese mainland, has been shared in a moving documentary produced by the China Global Television Network (CGTN).
Peng remains one of only seven registered survivors in the Chinese mainland of the Japanese military's "comfort women" system, a brutal state-enforced regime of sexual slavery during World War II, victimizing over 400,000 women across Asia.
She is also the only living survivor who is officially documented as a victim of both sexual slavery and of Japan's chemical warfare during the Japanese militarists' war of aggression against China.
Eight decades on, Peng has bravely shared the story of her horrifying experiences in the CGTN original documentary "Last Daughters," which reveals the deep scars left by war and captures the quiet strength and warmth that endured, even in the darkest depths of human suffering.
Blinded by mustard gas at age nine and mutilated at 14 before being forced into a military brothel during the war, Peng was able to survive despite facing these unimaginable hardships in her young life.
Nowadays, Peng lives in a narrow alleyway, a humble dwelling with one room and one kitchen in central China's Hunan Province. Her door opens directly in front of a refurbished public toilet.
Born by the Yangtze River, Peng lost her eyesight as a child when Japanese mustard gas bombs fell on her hometown.
"I lost my eyesight when I was nine. The Japanese army struck Yueyang with bombs carrying poison. After I inhaled the mustard gas, I developed a fever, and then lost my eyesight," said Peng.
In the summer of 1938, Peng's mother and infant brother died from the killer gas. Her 13-year-old sister, Peng Renshou, was betrayed to Japanese soldiers while fleeing.
Before she passed away, Peng Renshou said the Japanese soldiers threatened to burn down a house with 50 people inside unless she surrendered. She had no choice. Brutally gang-raped until left unconscious, she survived but became infertile.
Three years later, the then 14-year-old Peng Zhuying suffered the same fate.
"It began with my sister's suffering. She was only 13. When my time came, I was 14, maybe 15. When they came for me, I resisted and refused to go. The Japanese broke two of my toes with sticks. After my toes were broken, I was dragged to the 'comfort women station' in Guozhen Town. I was violated there," said Peng.
After her release, with the help of villagers, when troops marched on Changsha, Peng bled relentlessly from her severe injuries.
"After I returned, I began having gynecological issues. I had persistent bleeding and none of the treatments helped. I was filled with hatred. I thought to myself, I've gotten this illness and it won't get better, so I would rather die. Later on, I received treatment from a doctor named Liu from the Red Cross. The doctor gave me pills and injections, and eventually my bleeding stopped," she said.
A CT scan taken last year revealed a calcified fetus in her womb, which had remained inside Peng Zhuying's body for 80 years.
Survivor of Japan's wartime sexual slavery, chemical attacks bravely shares story in CGTN documentary
