1st LD Writethru: Chinese shares close higher Wednesday

BEIJING, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese stocks closed higher Wednesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 0.68 percent at 3,303.04.

The Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.91 percent higher at 11,143.89.

Combined turnover on the two bourses stood at 336.11 billion yuan (about 55.3 billion U.S. dollars).

Most shares rallied on the two bourses, with sectors of liquor and home appliance making among the biggest winners.

Kweichow Moutai, China's leading liquor producer, increased 2.59 percent to 668.21 yuan, while shares of Wuliangye Group went up 3.19 percent to 74.15 yuan.

Midea Group, one of China's leading home appliance makers, gained 3 percent to 54.9 yuan.

Environmental protection shares also gained Wednesday, with Guangdong Chant Group up 6.26 percent.

China plans to increase its sea water desalination capacity more than five-fold during the next three to five years to ease a water shortage on its inhabited islands.

Around 100 sea water desalination projects will be built or upgraded in 16 coastal provinces and cities, adding 600,000 tonnes of daily desalination capacity to the existing capacity of 135,700 tonnes, according to a plan issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and the State Oceanic Administration.

The news lifted stock prices of relevant companies. Beijing Originalwater Technology climbed 1.68 percent to 16.93 yuan while Zhejiang Hailiang Co. shares ended up 0.51 percent to 7.87 yuan.

The ChiNext Index, which tracks China's NASDAQ-style enterprises, gained 0.41 percent to close at 1,806.09. Enditem