Chinese shares close higher Friday

BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese stocks closed higher on Friday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 1.01 percent to 3,041.17 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.62 percent higher at 9,400.85 points.

The combined turnover of stocks covered by the two indices reached 858.59 billion yuan (about 121.01 billion U.S. dollars), down from 932.23 billion yuan the previous trading day.

Stocks related to automobile and electronic products led the gains, while stocks in the hotel and housing construction sectors saw broad declines.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, gained 0.63 percent to close at 1,818.2 points on Friday.