Beijing - Shares on China's main stock market leapt by nearly 8 per cent on Monday, following an even bigger jump on Friday, spurred by weekend news of the US government's financial rescue plan.

The key Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks shares traded in local and foreign currencies, gained 161.32 points, or 7.77 per cent, to end the day at 2,236.41.

The rise followed a gain of 9.46 per cent in Shanghai on Friday, the previous trading day, and was also influenced by the government's easing of rules for share buy-back, state media said.

The smaller Shenzhen Composite Index rose by 3.8 per cent, or 22.62 points, to close at 618.34 on Monday.

Banks and insurance firms, which lost heavily earlier last week, were among the biggest winners on Monday, the Shanghai Daily newspaper reported.

Over the weekend, the US Treasury proposed buying mortgage-related securities valued at 700 billion dollars as part of the government's efforts to recover from the recent financial crisis.

Chinese President Hu Jintao and US President George W Bush discussed the crisis by telephone on Monday.

Hu told Bush that he hoped US measures to bolster financial markets would soon have an effect and "lead to a gradual recovery" across the globe, China's foreign ministry reported. (dpa)