China stocks gained more than 1% on Thursday, bucking the trend in Asia, as investors snapped up battered property shares, betting Beijing will relax policies to prevent a sector-wide collapse. ** The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 1.6%, to 4,898.65 points, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.2% to 3,532.79 points. ** The CSI300 Real Estate index, which tracks blue-chip property shares, surged 9% in its best day in nearly seven years. A broader property index jumped 6.8%. ** Investors are piling into property stocks, which had been battered by strict government curbs and China Evergrande Group’s debt woes, as a slew of positive signals recently fan hopes for policy easing. ** A think tank of China’s State Council met a local property association and financial institutions in Guangzhou, Chinese media reported on Thursday, days after the agency, which makes policy recommendations, held a similar meeting with developers and banks in Shenzhen. ** On Wednesday, the Securities Times reported some real estate companies disclosed plans to issue debt in the interbank market at a meeting with market regulators. Some see it as a sign that developers’ financing conditions are improving. ** Data showing a rise in new mortgage loans in October and news on Thursday that Evergrande bondholders received coupon payments from the indebted developer also aided sentiment. ** “China needs to relax property curbs, because the industry is so important to economic growth,” said Liam Zhou, founder of Shanghai-based hedge fund house Minority Asset Management. ** Bank stocks also rose in China and Hong Kong on receding fears that further defaults by developers would erode banks’ balance sheets. ** Chinese brokerages shares also rose sharply on Thursday, as investors bet they will benefit from the imminent launch of the Beijing Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)