People at Shenwan Hongyuan Securities exchange in Shanghai on Thursday Photo: Yang Hui/GT

The A-share market has gotten off to a flying start in 2020, with the three major boards on the Chinese mainland all rising more than 1 percent during the morning session on Thursday, the first trading day of the year.

The Shanghai Composite Index closed 1.15 percent higher at 3,085.20 points. The Shenzhen Component Index edged up by 1.99 percent to 10,638.82 points. The ChiNext board rose by 1.93 percent to 1,832.74 points. 

Mainland equity markets were roaring in 2019 despite the China-US trade war, US sanctions on some Chinese tech companies and China's slowing internal economy. 

Last year, the Shanghai market rose by more than 22 percent while the Shenzhen market was up by around 45 percent, making the A-share market one of the best-performing stock markets in the world. 

The bullish trend shored up market watchers' confidence. 

"Mainland stocks will continue a slow bull run in 2020, and the Shanghai market is likely to rise by another 20 percent this year," said Yang Delong, chief economist at the Shenzhen-based First Seafront Fund Management.

"This was a good start to 2020, better than in previous years. I expect the A-share market will keep soaring this year," a Shanghai-based investor surnamed Chen told the Global Times on Thursday. 

Mainland shares' rise on Thursday came after China unleashed fresh capital of about 800 billion yuan ($115 billion) into the markets by cutting the reserve requirement ratio (RRR), cash that banks must hold as reserves, for financial institutions. 

China's central bank has cut the RRR eight times since early 2018 to free up more funds for banks to lend in order to stimulate economic growth. 

"The RRR cut is a catalyst for the A-shares' bullish trend," Yang said. "It will help shore up market confidence and stabilize anticipation of economic growth, sparking a strong rebound on the A-share market in the spring," he said.

China Merchants Securities said in a note it sent to the Global Times that China's approval of the amended securities law is expected to boost individual investors' confidence in buying shares, particularly amid a low interest rate environment.

Experts predict that China's capital market will continue its bullish run in 2020.
Newspaper headline: Stocks rally over 1 percent