SHANGHAI, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks jumped on Thursday while China shares remained subdued, after public broadcaster RTHK reported that the Hong Kong government may loosen its COVID-19 curbs further.

The jump comes after some investors booked profits in the previous session following China's most sweeping changes to its resolute zero-COVID regime since the pandemic began three years ago.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed up 3.4%, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index climbed 3.6%.

Meanwhile, China's blue-chip CSI 300 Index and the Shanghai Composite Index ended almost flat.

RTHK said Hong Kong authorities will

shorten the quarantine period

for confirmed COVID-19 cases and close contacts from seven to five days.

Other Asian equities rose as well, despite growing fears of an economic slowdown and worries over the pace of the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes.

The relaxation of China's COVID rules, which includes allowing infected people with mild symptoms to quarantine at home and dropping testing for people travelling domestically, is the clearest sign yet that Beijing is pivoting away from its zero-COVID policy to let people live with the disease.

Tech giants listed in Hong Kong surged 6.6% to reach the highest level since September, with video platform Bilibili Inc jumping 22% and Alibaba Health Information Technology up 16%.

Macau casino operators also led the rally, finishing up 12.2%, sending their quarterly gain to 46.5%.

Chinese real-estate developers added nearly 3% to lead the gains in the mainland market, after China's Bank of Communications Co Ltd (BoCom) said it has signed pacts to support eight property firms, answering Beijing's call to ease a severe liquidity crunch in the sector.

However, consumer staples and information technology firms lost 0.7% and 1.3%, respectively.

"For the next 12 months, we think that there will be opportunities in consumer-related areas, such as sportswear, restaurants, and travel-related names. But we are very careful in picking single stocks, especially after the recent dramatic stock price movements," said Jian Shi Cortesi, Investment Director at GAM Investments.

She added the market could still be volatile given the uncertainty during the reopening process. If there are pullbacks, there could be opportunities to add exposure to these reopening names, she said. (Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; editing by Uttaresh.V and Janane Venkatraman)