SHANGHAI, May 9 (Reuters) - China stocks rose on Thursday after solid April trade data added to signs of pick-up in demand, while latest property policy in a megacity also improved sentiment.
China's exports and imports returned to growth in April after contracting in the previous month, signalling an encouraging improvement in demand at home and overseas.
Also, China's eastern metropolis of Hangzhou on Thursday said it will lift all home purchase restrictions to shore up its real estate market, raising the prospect of other cities following suit.
"The policies in the property sector are changing in a meaningful way recently," said Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management.
"A stabilization of the property sector would help to boost domestic demand and mitigate the deflationary pressure."
** China's blue-chip CSI 300 index was up 1.03% by the midday break. The financial sub-index , consumer staples , real estate index and healthcare sub-index rose between 0.01% and 3.67%.
** Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong jumped 1.63% to 6,561.93, while the Hang Seng Index was up 1.23% at 18,538.57.
** The smaller Shenzhen index was up 1.44%, the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was higher by 1.85% and Shanghai's tech-focused STAR50 index climbed 1.79%.
** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index
was firmer by 0.12% while Japan's Nikkei index
edged 0.35% higher.
** Guangdong Fangyuan New Materials Group , Kingsemi and Hubei Huarong Holding were the largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite index, up 13.56%, 10.9% and 10.06% respectively.
** Lenovo , Longfor Group Holdings and Sunny Optical Technology Group were the top gainers among H-shares, up 6.28% 5.74% and 5.29% respectively.
(Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Varun H K)
((Jason.Xue@thomsonreuters.com;))
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