China stocks closed higher on Thursday after Premier Li Keqiang vowed to stabilise employment and revive disrupted supply chains, while a further drop in the number of daily COVID-19 cases implied the worst might be over, kindling stimulus hopes.

 

** The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 0.7% to 3,921.11, while the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.6% to 2,975.48.

** The Hang Seng index rose 1.7%, to 20,276.17, while the China Enterprises index gained 2.0%, to 6,918.62 points.

** Daily new coronavirus caseload dropped for a fifth straight day. Mainland China reported 11,367 new coronavirus cases for Wednesday, down from 14,298 new cases a day earlier.

** Traders were closely watching if Beijing can successfully arrest a severe outbreak and avert a Shanghai-like lockdown, as the capital city closed some public spaces and rolled out three rounds of mass testing this week across a number of districts.

** To create more jobs, China will promote healthy development of its platform economy, according to a State Council meeting chaired by Premier Li.

** China will also tackle bottlenecks in supply chains affected by COVID-19 by easing congestion at ports and airports and restoring delivery services, according to the meeting.

** "It's still too early for policymakers to give up the 5% growth bottom line for this year," economists at Macquarie Capital said in a note. "Once the current COVID wave is under control, they will likely double down policy supports to make up for the loss from lockdowns."

** Real estate developers and banks rose 3.9% and 2.1%, respectively, while liquor makers added 2.8%.

** Energy stocks gained 4.9%. Coal miners jumped 6.3%, led by China Coal Energy and Shaanxi Coal Industry Co, with both up roughly 10% on robust Q1 results.

** Tech giants listed in Hong Kong climbed 2.2% following Premier Li's pledge, with index heavyweight Alibaba Group rising 4.4% to be the biggest boost to the Hang Seng index.

** Two sources told Reuters that Alibaba plans to expand its Southeast Asian arm Lazada to Europe as the Chinese e-commerce company seeks further overseas growth amid slowing opportunities at home.

** Chinese language internet search provider Baidu Inc added more than 4% as Baidu and Pony.ai said they had received permits to deploy driverless robotaxis on open Chinese roads for the first time.

** Hong Kong shares of China Coal Energy surged 10.2%, while the energy sector rose 4%.

** Standard Chartered jumped 10.4%, the biggest daily rise since November 2020, after it posted a forecast-beating 6% rise in first-quarter profit.

(Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Shounak Dasgupta)