Ups and downs for China stocks

China stocks closed flat on Thursday with gains led by media shares offsetting declines by electronic component firms.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was up slightly by 0.02 points to 3,017.07 points. The smaller Shenzhen Component Index edged up 0.02 percent to 10,296.29 points, while the blue chip CSI300 index dipped 0.14 percent to 4,027.15 points.

Turnover on the two major bourses was 578.3 billion yuan (US$82.52 billion) compared with the previous session's 668 billion yuan.

Nearly 80 listed companies posted gains hitting the daily limit of 10 percent, while five saw their stock prices tumbling by 10 percent.

The media sector performed strongly, with over 10 media companies listed on the A-share markets surging by the 10 percent daily cap, including COL Digital Publishing Group Co, DuZhe Publishing & Media Co and Wanda Film Holding Co, according to data from Wind Information. 

As of December 14, the cumulative domestic box office had reached 60.96 billion yuan, higher than the 60.688 billion yuan in 2018, according to a data platform under Alibaba Pictures. Also, 35 new films are coming out between December 15 and 31, further boosting the 2019 box office record.

Electronic component shares, however, led the declines. Edifier Technology Co slumped 9.28 percent, while Ingenic Semiconductor Co, Shenzhen Refond Optoelectronics Co and Suzhou Goldengreen Technologies all fell over 8 percent.

Stocks related to industrial hemp, coal firms and the construction industry were among the gainers, while the food and beverage sector, non-bank financial companies and communication shares retreated.

On the STAR Market, 15 of 66 listed companies gained and 52 posted declines. CABIO Biotech (Wuhan) Co jumped most sharply by 93.18 percent, and the biggest drop was a 6.51-percent fall for Beijing Kingsoft Office Software.