Chinese shares rose at the end of Friday's trade as the country's exports topped forecasts.
The Shanghai Composite Index, the main gauge of Chinese stocks, closed 1.0% higher to 3,940.04. The Shenzhen Component Index rose 1.4% to 14,311.01.
China's exports rose 23.9% year over year to $397.9 billion in July, beating Reuters' forecast of a 22.2% growth. Meanwhile, imports rose 27.5% to $285.4 billion, lower than Reuters estimates of 27.9%.
Trade surplus narrowed to $112.5 billion in July from $125.62 billion in June, higher than the consensus forecast of $109.4 billion tracked by Investing.com.
On the regulatory front, the People's Bank of China is adding more gold reserves in Hong Kong over the past few months. PBOC's move is seen to help the city become a bullion trading hub and also fuels a trend of returning its gold reserves to Hong Kong from London.
In company news, Haisco Pharmaceutical (SHE:002653) received clinical trial approval from China's National Medical Products Administration for its self-developed HSK51155 tablets for controlling migraine pain. Also, the company will provide up to 261 million yuan in loans to its holding subsidiary Haisijinuo for research and development and working capital. Shares of the pharmaceutical company closed 4% higher Friday.