SHANGHAI stocks advanced in the morning session after data showed China's economic expansion slowed in the second quarter but was in line with market estimates.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 29.86 points, or 1.46 percent, to 2,069.34. Turnover was 50.9 billion yuan (US$8.3 billion).

China's gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter expanded 7.5 percent from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said today. That growth moderated from a 7.7 percent rise in the prior quarter.

China's economy grew at 7.5 percent year on year in the first half of the year, data showed.
Analysts said the figure was within expectations.

Brokerages gained among financial firms after China's securities regulator on Friday approved nearly doubling the investment quota to US$150 billion for Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors.

CITIC Securities, China's biggest listing broker, jumped 6.6 percent to 11.24 yuan. Haitong Securities rose 6.5 percent to 11.25 yuan. Founder Securities surged 8.1 percent to 6.25 yuan. China has set an annual average growth goal of 20 percent in the consumption of information products and services from 2013 to 2015 as the country is striving to boost domestic consumption to promote economic transition, according to a statement released after a meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang.

Datang Telecom Technology Co rose 3.6 percent to 13.27 yuan. Fiberhome Telecommunication Technologies Co jumped 7.7 percent to 18.05 yuan. Shenzhen Kingdom Technology Co surged 7.6 percent to 16.04 yuan.