* SSEC +0.2%, CSI300 +0.3%, HSI -1.6% * Ping An Bank hits near 7-week high BEIJING/SHANGHAI, April 21 (Reuters) - China shares rose on Wednesday with healthcare and banking stocks leading the gains, as investors cheered upbeat quarterly earnings results. ** At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.15% at 3,478.06 points, while the blue-chip CSI300 index was up 0.32%. ** The blue-chip’s banking sector sub-index was higher by 1.52%, while the consumer staples sector was up 0.77%, and the healthcare sub-index up 1.67%. ** Lenders were cheered by investors after some banks posted upbeat quarterly results. ** Shenzhen shares in Ping An Bank Co Ltd climbed by 5.72% to 22.93 yuan in the morning session, touching their highest since March 5. ** The bank posted a 18.5% jump in net profit in the January-March quarter, thanks to the country’s economic recovery. ** The sector’s performance also shrugged off overnight comments from a senior banking regulator, who urged banks to prepare for a rebound in bad loans, and fully evaluate such risks. ** Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong fell 1.62% to 10,905.97, while the Hang Seng Index was down 1.63% at 28,661.58. ** The smaller Shenzhen index was up 0.22%, the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was higher by 0.42% and Shanghai’s tech-focused STAR50 index was down 0.07%. ** Around the region, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 1.07% while Japan’s Nikkei index was down 2.23%. (Reporting by Cheng Leng in Beijing, Luoyan Liu and Andrew Galbraith in Shanghai; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)