BEIJING, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese equities rose for a fifth day, up slightly 0.68 percent Monday.

    The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.68 percent, or 19.51 points to finish at 2,881.12.

    The Shenzhen Component Index rose one percent, or 115.77 points, to end at 11,635.45.

    Combined turnover shrank to 166.997 billion yuan (24.45 billion U.S. dollars) from 213.54 billion yuan on the previous trading day.

    Gainers outnumbered losers by 565 to 257 in Shanghai and 513 to 207 in Shenzhen.

    Analysts attributed the growth to the government's policy of raising by 25 percent the amount foreign funds can invest in equities.

    The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) China issued draft rules Friday, to increase the amount which an individual Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (QFII) fund can invest in the country's financial markets.

    The upward limit of investment quota for an overseas institute in the QFII program was increased to 1 billion U.S. dollars from the previous 800 million U.S. dollars.

    Analysts said they believed the policy helped ease investors' concerns on liquidity.

    In blocks, medicines stocks rose remarkably after the Chinese government Friday ordered 7.3 million doses of A/H1N1 'flu vaccine from domestic pharmaceutical companies Sinovac and Hualan.

    Five medicines stocks took the lead and rose nearly 10 percent or the daily limit, including Beijing Tiantan Biological Products Corp up 10 percent to 26.28 yuan, Hualan Biological Engineering Inc. up 9.99 percent to 45.03 yuan and Shenzhen Neptunus Bioengineering Co. up 9.98 percent to 10.69 yuan,

    Chinese equities gained about 1.6 percent midday, but the gains were almost erased in the afternoon.

    Analysts attributed it to investors' cautious sentiment as China is expected to publicize monthly key economic data for monetary supply, deposits and loans for August this Thursday or Friday. 

Special Report:  Global Financial Crisis