(File photo: VCG)

BEIJING, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese stocks closed higher on Wednesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 0.05 percent to close at 2,581.00 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.09 percent higher at 7,523.77 points.

Trading volumes remained thin. The combined turnover of stocks in the two indices came in at 244 billion yuan (36 billion US dollars).

Sectors of shipbuilding and furniture gained most, with the sub-indexes rising 0.9 percent and 0.77 percent, respectively.

Yotrio Group gained 5.21 percent to close at 3.03 yuan per share, and Jiangsu Guoxin increased 3.48 percent to close at 7.43 yuan.

The ChiNext Index, China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, lost 0.09 percent to close at 1,251.13 points Wednesday.