SHANGHAI'S stocks yesterday rose for a third day, boosted by shares in information and integrated circuit (IC) industries after the State Council, China's Cabinet, said it will support their development.

The Shanghai Composite Index added 0.23 percent to end at 2,827.71.

The central government will earmark capital from the central budget to fund technological improvements and upgrading of projects in qualified integrated circuit enterprises, according to a statement issued by the State Council.

Shanghai Baosight Software Co surged 7.07 percent to 27.73 yuan.

PetroChina, the nation's largest oil company, was among the advancers, up 1.33 percent to 11.39 yuan. China National Petroleum Corp, the majority shareholder in PetroChina, said its earnings jumped an annual 30 percent to 167.6 billion yuan last year.

As China will release the year's first work guidance document on the management of the country's water resources late this month, Yuan Jianxin, an analyst at Changjiang Securities, suggested investors should look at firms engaged in irrigation works and water conservancy, including China Gezhouba Group Co.

The document prescribes that 10 percent of annual land sales receipts received by the governments should be used for irrigation works and water conservancy, which is expected to exceed 270 billion yuan this year, the 21st Century Business Herald reported.

Among decliners, Sinovel Wind Group Co, China's biggest maker of wind turbines, fell below its initial public offering price on its trading debut yesterday when its share price tumbled 9.59 percent to close at 81.37 yuan.