(Yicai Global) March 4 -- Chinese mainland stock markets closed the morning at an eight-month peak, driven by investment sentiment.

Security shares showed the strongest performance amid the overall surge.

The Shanghai Composite Index closed at 3,073.03, up 2.64 percent with CNY270.2 billion (USD4.4 billion) swapped, while the Shenzhen Component Index rose 3.86 percent to close at 9,521.13, churning over CNY 324.9 billion. The ChiNext price Index, which tracks Shenzhen's growth enterprises, gained 4.71 percent to 1,641.73 with CNY 96.6 billion in turnover.

Investors feel reassured by the prospect of advantageous policy initiatives that usually emerge from the Two Sessions, which are the annual assemblies of China's top legislative and political advisory bodies that convene in Beijing each March.