BEIJING, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- China's dollar-denominated B shares at Shanghai Stock Exchange jumped 9.42 percent, or 21.62 points, to 251.19 points, posting an 18-month high.

    The surge mainly resulted from market expectation of yuan appreciation as the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, said Wednesday in its quarterly report of monetary policy, for the first time, that the bank would improve the mechanism of the exchange rate determination "based on international capital flows and movements in major currencies", analysts said.

    The new wording showed that China would reduce speculation and strengthen risk control in the future, but it did not necessarily suggest a change in the yuan's exchange rate policy, said Tan Yaling, an expert with the China Institute for Financial Derivatives at Peking University.

    The strong B-share market was also a sign of confidence of overseas investors in China's domestic market, analysts said.

    China's October economic data revealed strong positive signs of economic recovery, which made foreign investors optimistic over the performance of listed companies, said Bi Zinan, deputy director of the Research Institute of Northeast Securities.

    The upward trend of B-share market will continue for a while and investors can take investment chances in the middle term or long term, said Qian Xiangjin, an analyst with Citic-Kington Securities.