Gold and vaccine shares led Chinese stock markets to close sharply higher in the morning, after a lower opening due to the end of the Nasdaq-style Star Market's first lock-up period.

The Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.2 percent to 3,360.78 at the lunch break. The Shenzhen Component Index closed at 13,755.66, up 1.62 percent. The ChiNext Price Index, which tracks growth enterprises listed in Shenzhen, surged 1.92 percent to 2,798.03.

The price of gold price hit a nine-year high yesterday, lifting gold shares over 3 percent in the morning.

News that clinical trials of inoculants against the novel coronavirus developed separately by teams in China and the UK have proven them to be safe and to induce immune responses in humans lofted vaccine-related stocks up 2 percent after a 5.2 percent gain yesterday.

Editor: Ben Armour