** At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.37% at 2,825.90.

** The blue-chip CSI300 index <.CSI300> was up 0.33%, with its financial sector sub-index <.CSI300FS> higher by 0.2%, the consumer staples sector <.CSI000912> up 0.12%, the real estate index <.CSI000952> down 0.81% and the healthcare sub-index <.CSI300HC> up 2.61%.

** The smaller Shenzhen index ended up 0.85% and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was higher by 1.648%.

** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index <.MIAPJ0000PUS> was firmer by 1.47%, while Japan's Nikkei index <.N225> closed down 0.04%.

** Helping broader sentiment was New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's statement that the state's efforts at social distancing were working in getting the virus under control in one of the biggest hot spots in the United States.

** U.S. President Donald Trump said he would like to reopen the U.S. economy with a "big bang" but that the death toll from the coronavirus first needs to be heading down.

** Market sentiment has improved somewhat after the recent U.S. massive monetary and fiscal easing to help its economy, which could help lift risk appetite for the A-share market, analysts at Eversight Securities said in note.

** Long-term investors will now start to buy shares given the reasonable valuations of China stocks, the brokerage added.

** China's new bank loans are expected to have rebounded in March from a sharp drop the previous month, a Reuters poll showed, as policymakers continue to urge lenders to help cash-strapped companies hit hard by the coronavirus crisis.

** China released new measures on Wednesday to try and prevent asymptomatic "silent carriers" of coronavirus from causing a second wave of infections, as the country reported another modest rise in new confirmed cases.

** At 07:07 GMT, the yuan was quoted at 7.0677 per U.S. dollar, 0.04% weaker than the previous close of 7.0651.

** As of 07:08 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 25.69% over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares.

(Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)