Special Report: Global Financial Crisis

    BEIJING, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese equities outperformed regional markets in Thursday's morning trade, buoyed by rises in telecom and textile shares.

    The benchmark Shanghai index lost 1.2 percent to finish at 1,993.2 points, and the smaller Shenzhen index advanced 0.53 percent to 6,715.48, compared to losses of more than five percent in Hong Kong and Japan after an overnight plummet on Wall Street.

    Textile companies mostly rose after the country's cabinet said late Wednesday it would further increase tax rebates for light industry to alleviate cost burdens on exporters.

    The Shanghai-based Sinotex Investment & Development surged 9.88percent to 3.56 yuan. The Shenzhen-listed China Garments rose 4.51percent to 2.78 yuan.

    The telecom sector continued to rise for a second day on hope the country would soon license the third-generation (3G) services. ZTE, the country's second largest telecom equipment maker, went up4.64 percent to 24.14 yuan.

    After a newspaper report said on Thursday that Walt Disney was in talks to build a theme park in Shanghai, local-based companies, real estate developers in particular, posted strong gains.

    Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone Development, Shanghai Lujiazui Finance & Trade Zone Development, and Shanghai Jielong Industry Group all rose by the daily limit of 10 percent.

    However, weak performance of heavyweights, such as PetroChina and China Ping An, dragged the market down. PetroChina slipped 1.76 percent to 11.70 yuan, and China Ping An dropped 4.53 percent to 24.44 yuan.