1st Ld-Writethru: Chinese stocks rally Wednesday

Chinese stocks made a remarkable comeback on Wednesday, recouping losses from the losing streak earlier in the week.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 2.25 percent to close at 3361.84 points. The smaller Shenzhen index rose 2.24 percent to close at 11,724.88 points.

The ChiNext Index, the NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, gained 2.14 percent to close at 2,468.37 points.

Total turnover on the two bourses waned, standing at 699.5 billion yuan (107.1 billion U.S. dollars), down from 811.5 billion yuan the previous trading day.

The Shanghai Index opened higher and remained in positive territory during the morning session, with mild fluctuations before gradually climbing up to 3361.84 points at closing.

Altogether 83 stocks rose by the daily limit of 10 percent.

The coal mining sector perked up and gained a 7.39 percent growth, as a knee-jerk reaction to Premier Li Keqiang's inspection tour in north China's Shanxi Province on Monday and Tuesday, which is known for large coal reserves and output.

Li urged less overcapacity and more innovation in the coal mining industry. He also visited a coal mine owned by Xishan Coal Electricity Group, whose shares rose by the daily limit of 10 percent.

The iron and steel industry also posted handsome gains of 5.18 percent, pepped up by the new supply-side reform which aims at cutting industrial overcapacity and tackling a supply glut. Steel and coal have suffered the most from excessive production and flagging demand.

The market sentiment was somewhat boosted by a slight rise in China's service sector activity, as the Caixin China General Services PMI (Purchasing Managers' Index) came in at 50.2 in December, above the 50-point level, which demarcates contraction and expansion. Endit