A man is seen at a stock exchange in Hefei, capital of central China's Anhui Province, Aug. 20, 2009. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 4.52 percent, or 126 points, to finish at 2,911.58. The Shenzhen Component Index rose 3.91 percent, or 438.43 points, to end at 11,648.35.

A man and a woman are seen at a stock exchange in Hefei, capital of central China's Anhui Province, Aug. 20, 2009. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 4.52 percent, or 126 points, to finish at 2,911.58. The Shenzhen Component Index rose 3.91 percent, or 438.43 points, to end at 11,648.35.

BEIJING, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's stocks rose 4.52 percent on Thursday's close, with oil firms leading the gains following an overnight rally in crude prices.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 4.52 percent, or 126 points, to finish at 2,911.58. The Shenzhen Component Index rose 3.91 percent, or 438.43 points, to end at 11,648.35.

Combined turnover rose only slightly to 191.33 billion yuan (28.01 billion U.S. dollars) from 191.07 billion yuan the previous trading day.

Gainers outnumbered losers by 861 to 12 in Shanghai and 748 to 10 in Shenzhen.

The rise was the biggest in almost five months and erased most of yesterday's 4.3-percent drop to a two-month low.

PetroChina Co., the nation's biggest oil company, climbed 6.9 percent after oil prices rose in New York. China Shenhua Energy Co. and China Coal Energy Co., the top two coal producers, advanced more than 7 percent.

Financials posted gains as the government called for more financial help for small and medium-sized enterprises. Bank of Communications Ltd. rose 4.43 percent to 9.91 yuan and China Minsheng Bank gained 4.46 percent to 7.26 yuan. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rose 3.26 percent to 4.75 yuan.

The government on Wednesday called for more policy assistance and financial support to encourage the development of small and medium-sized enterprises.

The insurance sector posted widespread gains. China Pacific Insurance rose 6.76 percent to 22.12 yuan. China Ping An Insurance rose 6.12 percent to 51.82 yuan.

China Vanke, the country's largest listed real estate developer, rose 2.55 percent to 11.28 yuan.