SHANGHAI, Jan 29 (Reuters) - China stocks were roughly flat on Monday as fresh curbs on short selling triggered mixed feelings among investors, while oil shares led the Hong Kong market higher.
** Investors took in their stride news that China Evergrande Group was ordered to liquidate by a Hong Kong court, judging the property giant's woe had been priced in.
** China's bluechip CSI300 Index was up 0.1% by the lunch break, while the Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.3%.
** Hong Kong's Heng Seng Index rose 0.9%, with Chinese oil giants jumping amid higher crude prices.
** On Sunday, China's securities watchdog said it would suspend the lending of lock-up shares for short selling starting Monday. The regulator will also slow the process of share lending in the securities refinancing market from March 18.
** Yang Delong, chief economist at First Seafront Fund Management Co, said the measures would "weaken short sellers and strengthen support to the market."
** But Yuan Yuwei, hedge fund manager at Water Wisdom Asset Management, said that short selling actually helps curb price volatility, and the new measures "don't change fundamentals, which ultimately determine prices."
** Big-caps far outperform small-caps on Monday, signalling sustained state support toward state-owned companies.
** The blue-chip SSE 50 Index gained 0.5%, while the CSI 1000 index of small-caps lost 1.5%.
** In Hong Kong, shares of Chinese oil giants including Sinopec, CNOOC and PetroChina climbed as oil prices rose amid heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
** An index tracking mainland property developers rose 0.8%, underperforming the broader market, after a Hong Kong court ordered the liquidation China Evergrande.
** "The liquidation had been expected, and now it's confirmed. It has already been priced in," said Mark Dong, general manager of Minority Asset Management in Hong Kong. (Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
