SHANGHAI, March 20 (Reuters) - Chinese stocks edged up on Wednesday, as investor sentiment improved slightly on upbeat data released this week, even as concerns over the country's consumption and property sector lingered.
** China's blue-chip CSI300 Index climbed 0.2% by the lunch break, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.5%. Hong Kong benchmark Hang Seng Index was up 0.2%.
** January-February data released on Monday appears to point to a good start to 2024, but investors are concerned on data credibility, weak demand, deflation, credit growth slowdown, and lack of effective policy, analysts at Jefferies said.
** China left benchmark lending rates unchanged at a monthly fixing on Wednesday, in line with market expectations, after the central bank kept a key policy rate steady last week amid some signs of improvement in the broad economy.
** Its central bank said it has reshuffled the monetary policy committee to include securities regulator head Wu Qing, vice central bank chief Xuan Changneng and two new academic members.
** China's CSI 300 real estate index edged down 0.2%, with state-backed Vanke in the spotlight as the country's property sector continued to struggle.
** Media stocks rose 1.4%, leading gains in China, with Zhejiang Huace Film & TV Co up to a maximum of 20%.
** Foreign capital recorded net buying by midday via the Stock Connect scheme's northbound link, after logging a net sell on Tuesday.
** In Hong Kong, shares of China's Tencent Music Entertainment jumped 9% after the company beat revenue estimates on Tuesday.
** Shares of Tencent Holdings added 0.9%.
(Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)