SHANGHAI, Sept 7 (Reuters) - China shares rose on Tuesday, lifted by materials firms, after the country’s exports unexpectedly grew at a faster pace in August, and as officials vowed to push further opening of capital markets to foreign investors. ** At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.77% at 3,649.65. ** China’s blue-chip CSI300 index was up 0.16%, with the materials sector up 2.87% and the consumer discretionary sub-index up 1.26%. ** The country’s exports rose 25.6% from a year earlier in August, pointing to some resilience in China’s industrial sector. ** The country will further open its capital markets to foreign investors, the top securities regulator said on Monday, adding that it will pursue pragmatic cross-border cooperation to regulate overseas-listed Chinese companies. ** Foreign investors were net buyers of A-shares through the Stock Connect programme, with Refinitiv data showing net inflows of 2.71 billion yuan at midday. ** Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong rose 0.87% to 9,452.58, while the Hang Seng Index was up 0.61% at 26,322.18. ** The smaller Shenzhen index was up 0.59%, the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was unchanged and Shanghai’s tech-focused STAR50 index was down 0.09%. ** Around the region, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.01% while Japan’s Nikkei index was up 0.71%. ** The yuan was quoted at 6.4549 per U.S. dollar, 0.05% firmer than the previous close of 6.458. ** So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is up 5.1% and the CSI300 has fallen 5.2%, while China’s H-share index listed in Hong Kong is down 12%. Shanghai stocks have risen 2.98% this month. (Reporting by Andrew Galbraith; editing by Uttaresh.V)