Chinese stocks close higher Thursday

Chinese stocks closed higher on Thursday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gaining 0.22 percent to close at 2,997.84 points.

The smaller Shenzhen index closed 0.49 percent higher at 10,474.01 points. The ChiNext Index, China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, rose by 0.59 percent to close at 2,224.09 points.

Turnover fell to 474.2 billion yuan (77.48 billion U.S. dollars), down from 535.4 billion yuan the previous trading day.

Stocks related to the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, aviation, culture and mass media led the gains.

Avic Aircraft Co., Ltd. rose by 4.05 percent to end at 18.75 yuan per share. Huawen Media Investment Corporation surged by the daily limit of 10 percent to end at 10.49 yuan.

Software shares also rose across the board. Beijing Shiji Information Technology Co., Ltd. and Beijing Join-Cheer Software Co., Ltd. both surged by the daily cap of 10 percent to end at 94.82 yuan and 57.10 yuan, respectively.

Market sentiment was positive on domestic software shares as China's State Council said on Wednesday that the country will intensify crackdowns on intellectual property rights (IPR) infringement and the production and sales of counterfeit goods this year, particularly in the Internet sector.