(Yicai Global) Dec. 17 -- Chinese stock markets closed sharply higher, buoyed by surging financial shares, and the ChiNext Price Index rose above 1,800 for the first time this year.

The Shanghai Composite Index ended 1.27 percent higher at 3,022.42, while the Shenzhen Component Index leaped 1.45 percent at 10,306.03. The ChiNext Price Index, which tracks Shenzhen-listed growth enterprises, rose 1.2 percent to 1,801.62.

Financial shares had risen by 3 percent as the closing bell rang.

Editor: Ben Armour