China stocks close higher as gains in communications sector outweigh property losses

Mainland China stocks closed slightly higher on Tuesday, with gains in the communications sector outweighing losses in property shares, as trading gradually thinned ahead of the long Lunar New Year holiday.

At the close, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC rose 0.13%, while the blue-chip CSI300 Index .CSI300 inched higher by 0.11%.

China's onshore media stocks surge on excitement over ByteDance's latest AI video-generation model, with the CSI media sub-index .CSI399971 closed up 4.2% and the CSI film and TV sub-index .CSI930781 surging 9.3%.

Meanwhile, property shares fell, with the CSI real estate sub-index .CSI000952 losing about 2%.

"We sense a notable pick-up in interest in the chemicals sectors and in the A-share semi-cap equipment sector, which is benefiting from the domestic AI upcycle," said James Wang, head of China strategy at UBS Investment Bank Research.

Trading is expected to be thin this week ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, which is the biggest festival in China. The week-long holiday runs from February 15 to 23 this year.

Turnover of onshore shares logged 2.11 trillion yuan ($305.27 billion) on Tuesday, the lowest level this year.

In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI advanced 0.58%.

Bilateral relations between the world's two largest economies saw fresh signs of easing as U.S. President Donald Trump is set to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in April, Politico reported on Monday.

President Xi on Monday stressed self-reliance and strength in science and technology, hailing it as the "key" in building China into a great modern socialist country, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Chinese stock exchanges announced measures on Monday to facilitate refinancing by "high-quality" listed companies to help them innovate or expand into new businesses.

Separately, investors will watch upcoming economic data, including China's January credit lending figures and U.S. employment and consumer price reports, for possible market impact.

A Reuters poll predicts new loans from Chinese banks in January probably rose from the prior month to match the strong performance a year ago, supported by a stable monetary policy environment. That reflects sustained credit demand as economic recovery continues.

($1 = 6.9120 Chinese yuan)

-Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Rashmi Aich/Reuters