Chinese stocks inched up Thursday, lifted by strong gains in resource firms and lithium battery producers.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index opened lower, but reversed the downward trend to end 0.17 percent higher at 3,212.44 points. The Shenzhen index closed 0.01 percent higher at 10,562.06 points.

The combined transaction volume of the two bourses stood at 476.39 billion yuan (about 70.1 billion U.S. dollars).

The ChiNext Index, which tracks China's NASDAQ-style enterprises, gained 0.13 percent to close at 1,839 points.

Resource firms led the gains, as rising prices boosted expectations of robust earnings. China Northern Rare Earth (Group) High-tech rose 3.85 percent to 12.14 yuan, while shares of Rising Nonferrous Metals Share surged by the daily limit of 10 percent to 44.24 yuan.

Shares of lithium battery producers also gained, as investors bet on more support for the sector after Vice Premier Ma Kai Tuesday stressed innovation in developing the new energy vehicle market, urging development of batteries, charging technology and new energy vehicle design.

EVE Energy surged 9.9 percent to 21.73 yuan. Shandong Shida Shenghua Chemical Group grew 8.2 percent to 32.22 yuan while shares of Foshan Golden Milky Way Intelligent Equipment climbed 6.7 percent to 45.97 yuan.