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BEIJING, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese shares closed mixed on Thursday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 0.1 percent to 3,248.55 points.
The Shenzhen Component Index gained 0.28 percent to end at 10,583.04 points. The ChiNext Index, which tracks China's high-growth enterprises, dropped 0.01 percent to close at 1,948.37 points.
Combined turnover expanded to about 599.4 billion yuan (about 87 billion U.S. dollars) on Thursday from 545.8 billion yuan the previous trading day.
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) announced Thursday that its Board of Governors has adopted resolutions approving 13 applicants to join the bank, the first time the multilateral development bank has welcomed new prospective members since its inception. The move brought the bank's total approved membership to 70.
The approved applicants are five regional prospective members -- Afghanistan, Armenia, Fiji, Hong Kong and Timor Leste -- and eight non-regional prospective members, namely Belgium, Canada, Ethiopia, Hungary, Ireland, Peru, Sudan and Venezuela.
Sector performance was mixed. The shipbuilding and banking sectors rallied while textile machinery and furniture retreated. Insurers firmed over the news that premium income received by Chinese insurers rose more than 30 percent year on year in the first two months.
The index tracking the dollar-dominated Shanghai B-shares slumped nearly 4 percent before ending 1.75 percent lower to a two-month low of 343.37 points. Shares traded on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges in foreign currency are B shares, while A shares are those denominated in yuan.
