China stocks see strong July on good economic news

Stock markets in the Chinese mainland ended July with a strong monthly gain on Thursday.

The Shanghai Composite Index rose by 0.93 percent or 20.32 points, to a seven-month high of 2,201.56 points on Thursday, ending July with a monthly gain of 7.5 percent.

The Shenzhen Component Index climbed 1.32 percent or 103.68 points to 7,956.91 points. The index jumped by 8.32 percent during the month.

Combined turnover on the two bourses on Thursday was 277.76 billion yuan ($44.99 billion), down from Wednesday's 305.57 billion yuan.

Stocks rallied in July, backed by a series of Chinese cities easing restriction on home purchasing, government investment plans and improved economic data, including second quarter GDP and new credit in June.

On the last day of July, shares in metal, food and coal firms led gains on mainland stock markets.

Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co jumped by 4.98 percent to 26.54 yuan.

Gold and nonferrous shares also rose on Thursday. Zhongjin Gold Co jumped by 8.98 percent to 8.74 yuan and Zijin Mining Group Co surged by 7.11 percent to 2.41 yuan.

Three firms went public on Thursday, with shares for all hitting the one-day price increase limit of 44 percent for newly-listed stocks making their debut. Shares in Shanghai-listed Sinoma Energy Conservation Ltd were 4.98 yuan at close.

ChiNext, China's NASDAQ-style board for high-tech and start-ups listed in Shenzhen, nudged up by 0.13 percent or 1.81 points to 1,344.54 points on Thursday. ChiNext shed 4.26 percent in July.