BEIJING, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese share prices maintained an upward trend on Wednesday despite the fourth raise of benchmark interest rates by the central bank this year.

    The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index went up 0.5 percent or 24.87 points to close at 4,980.08 points on a transaction volume of 163.7 billion yuan (21.5 billion U.S. dollars).

    The major index opened lower in the morning session on the central bank news and climbed to 4,999.19 points in the afternoon session as investors swarmed in to buy shares at lower prices.

    The Shenzhen Component Index on the smaller Shenzhen stock market rose 2.80 percent or 472.02 points to close at 17,331.99 points on a business turnover of 98.148 billion yuan (12.9 billion U.S. dollars).

    The combined turnover of the two bourses expanded to around 261.8 billion yuan ( 345 billion U.S. dollars) from 245.68 billion yuan on Tuesday.

    Aluminum Corp. of China reached the daily limit of 10 percent to 43.66 yuan. The CITIC Securities rose 1.53 percent to 89.65 yuan. Vanke, China's largest property firm, climbed 3.25 percent.

    The performance of banks differed as the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank rose 5.31 percent while the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dropped 1.7 percent.

    China's CPI rose by 5.6 percent in July from the same month of last year, following a year-on-year growth of 4.4 percent in June. Both are well above the government's target of 3 percent for 2007.

    The People's Bank of China announced late Tuesday to raise the one-year yuan lending rate to 7.02 percent from 6.84 percent and raise the one-year yuan deposit rate to 3.60 percent from 3.33 percent.

    Analysts said despite the interest raise, the market would continue to rise thanks to China's booming economy and as neighboring markets recover from the U.S. subprime crisis.

    "The rebound of neighboring markets has dispelled bearish expectations," said Yan Ji, a director of Shanghai-based HSBC Jin trust Fund Management.

    Yan said although the government had loosened control on individual's overseas investment to reduce the build-up of cash in its financial system, it would take time for the effects of the measure on the domestic stock market to be seen. Chinese investors are unlikely to invest heavily in overseas market in the short run.

    Chinese citizens have been allowed to invest directly in the overseas securities market on a trial basis, according to a circular released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) on Monday.

    Before the launching of the pilot project, Chinese citizens were able to invest in overseas stock markets through qualified domestic investment institutions (QDIIs). Direct individual investment was not allowed.