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BEIJING, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese stocks closed higher on Wednesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 0.14 percent to end at 2,935.87 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.19 percent higher at 11,420.84 points.

The combined turnover of stocks covered by the two major indices was 738.9 billion yuan (about 104.3 billion U.S. dollars), expanding from 712.42 billion yuan on the previous trading day.

Market sentiment remained cautious as the country's capital Beijing upgraded its emergency response to COVID-19 starting Tuesday due to new confirmed domestically transmitted cases.

Companies related to vaccines and traditional Chinese medicine led the gains, with shares of Weifang Kanghua Biotech Co., Ltd. surging by the daily limit of 10 percent to 111.46 yuan per share.

Bucking the trend, shares in the sectors of hotels and catering businesses fell across the board.

The ChiNext Index, China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, gained 0.15 percent to close at 2,263.96 points.