SHANGHAI: China stocks ended higher on Monday, as investors cheered better-than-expected gross domestic product (GDP) data pointing to a strong recovery from the coronavirus crisis in the world’s second-largest economy.

The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 1.1% to close at 5,518.52, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.8% to 3,596.22.

The tech-heavy start-up board ChiNext climbed 1.9%, while the STAR50 index firmed 2.3%.

China’s economy picked up speed in the fourth quarter, with growth beating expectations as it ended a rough coronavirus-striken 2020 in remarkably good shape and remained poised to expand further this year even as the global pandemic rages unabated.

The world’s second-largest economy has surprised many with the speed of its recovery from last year’s coronavirus jolt, especially as policymakers have also had to navigate tense US-China relations on trade and other fronts.

Leading the gains, the CSI300 banks index and CSI300 materials index rose 2.3% and 2%, respectively.

There was muted reaction to news that the Trump administration notified Huawei suppliers, including chipmaker Intel, that it is revoking certain licenses to sell to the Chinese company and intends to reject dozens of other applications to supply the telecommunications firm.