File photo: agencies

BEIJING, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- Chinese stocks closed higher on the last trading day of 2020, wrapping up the unusual year on an upbeat note.

The three closely watched indexes -- the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, the Shenzhen Component Index and the ChiNext Index -- opened higher on Thursday and maintained their upward momentum throughout the day.

The Shanghai Composite Index went up 1.72 percent to reach 3,473.07 points on Thursday, while the Shenzhen Component Index closed 1.89 percent higher at 14,470.68 points.

Meanwhile, the ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, gained 2.27 percent to close at 2,966.26 points.

The combined turnover of stocks covered by the two indices stood at 962 billion yuan (about 147.4 billion U.S. dollars), expanding from 847 billion yuan on the previous trading day.

Stocks related to securities, photovoltaics and tourism led the gains, while businesses in coal, petroleum and gasoline were among the losers.

The year 2020 saw China's stock market record a solid performance, with the ChiNext Index outshining other indexes by surging nearly 65 percent, its largest annual gain since 2015.

The liquor-related sector was among the biggest winners in 2020. Firms in vaccines, agricultural planting and automobiles also fared well.

China embraced its best quarterly economic performance of the year in the third quarter, with its gross domestic product expanding 4.9 percent year on year during the period, faster than the 3.2-percent growth seen in the second quarter, official data showed.