Chinese stocks closed moderately higher on Tuesday, buoyed by better-than-expected industrial profit data.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.6 percent to end at 2,998.17 points. The Shenzhen index closed 0.81 percent higher at 10,476.97 points.

The ChiNext Index, which tracks China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, gained 0.84 percent to close at 2,140.8 points.

Turnover remained thin, shrinking to 350.4 billion yuan (around 52.61 billion U.S. dollars) from 425.2 billion yuan the previous trading day.

China's industrial profits rose 19.5 percent year on year to 534.8 billion yuan in August, faster than the 11-percent increase registered one month earlier, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

The late afternoon rally was mainly fueled by the property sector. Dalong Estates, a mid-sized property developer, jumped by the 10-percent daily limit to 5.81 yuan. China Vanke, the country's biggest developer, added 1.86 percent to reach 25.14 yuan.

Financial shares were also broadly higher. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the biggest lender, climbed 0.68 percent to close at 4.44 yuan. Citic Securities Co., the biggest brokerage, rose 1.32 percent to finish at 16.13 yuan.

Source : XINHUA