SHANGHAI: China shares rose on Thursday, taking gains into a third straight session as slowing factory-gate inflation suggested policymakers may be able to act now to boost slowing economic growth.

** At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index was up 1.03% at 3,675.04 points.

** China's blue-chip CSI300 index was up 1.76%. Its financial sector sub-index rose 1.8%, the consumer staples sector jumped 2.12%, the real estate index added 2.28% and the healthcare sub-index gained 2.28%.

** China's factory-gate inflation cooled slightly in November, driven by a government crackdown on runaway commodity prices and an easing power crunch, potentially giving policymaker some latitude to unleash more stimulus.

** Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong rose 1.4% to 8,642.18, while the Hang Seng Index was up 0.89% at 24,210.02.

** An index tracking mainland property developers rose 2.34%, taking its gains for the week to more than 6.2% as hopes of a managed debt restructuring at developer China Evergrande Group calmed fears of a messy corporate collapse after it missed a debt payment deadline this week.

** Evergrande shares were up 3.47% by midday.

** The smaller Shenzhen index was up 0.97%, the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was higher by 0.95% and Shanghai's tech-focused STAR50 index was up 1.08%?.

** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.48% while Japan's Nikkei index was down 0.26%.

** The yuan eased to 6.3442 per US dollar from its close on Wednesday of 6.3438 despite its daily midpoint fixing being set at a three-and-a-half-year high, but remained near its highest levels since May 2018.

** So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is up 5.8%? and the CSI300 has fallen 2.4%, while China's H-share index listed in Hong Kong is down 19.5%. Shanghai stocks have risen 3.12% this month.