File photo: VCG

BEIJING, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese stocks closed higher on Wednesday, with the real estate and cement sectors leading the gain.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index went up 0.93 percent to close at 2,957.41 points while the Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.69 percent higher at 9,700.32 points.

The combined turnover of stocks in the two indices expanded to 605.8 billion yuan (85.47 billion U.S. dollars) from 564.4 billion yuan the previous trading day.

Gainers outnumbered losers by 1,066 to 343 on the Shanghai bourse and 1,400 to 653 in Shenzhen.

Real estate developers were among the companies that gained the most. China Vanke, a leading property developer, saw its share price up 3.89 percent after it reported a 15.1-percent year-on-year increase in contracted sales in August.

Companies of the cement sector mostly gained, with the share price of Tangshan Jidong Cement surging 5.55 percent.

The ChiNext Index, China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, gained 0.54 percent to close at 1,669.41 points Wednesday.