1st LD-Writethru: Chinese shares close higher Monday

BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese stocks closed higher on Monday, tracking Wall Street gains on robust U.S. jobs data.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index went up 0.59 percent to end at 3,326.7 points, and the Shenzhen Component Index closed 1.17 percent higher at 11,326.27 points.

Combined turnover on the two bourses expanded to 607.1 billion yuan(about 95.9 billion U.S. dollars), up from 511.7 billion yuan the previous trading day.

Shares related to "unicorn" concept surged on Monday over expectations that regulators will fast-track new listings by unicorn companies -- startups valued at more than 1 billion U.S. dollars -- to invigorate the country's capital market and foster the new economy.

Last week, China's securities regulator pledged to reform the listing mechanism and give more support to new technology, new industry, new industry forms and new business models.

Anhui Jiangnan Chemical Industry Co., Ltd and Shenzhen Mindata Group both surged by the daily limit of 10 percent to end the day at 7.1 yuan and 10.08 yuan, respectively.

The ChiNext Index, which tracks China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, gained 1.4 percent to close at 1,882.41 points Monday. Enditem