BEIJING, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese stocks closed higher on Monday, the first trading day of Year of the Loong, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 1.56 percent to 2,910.54 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.93 percent higher at 8,902.33 points.

The combined turnover of stocks covered by the two indices totaled 957.2 billion yuan (about 134.76 billion U.S. dollars). Over 4,200 shares ended higher, including 270 rising by the daily limit.

Stocks related to education and AI model "Sora" led the gains, while those related to securities and pork suffered major losses.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, gained 1.13 percent to close at 1,746.42 points on Monday.