China shares rose on Thursday for a third consecutive session, as slowing factory-gate inflation added to investor hopes that policymakers may be able to act to boost slowing economic growth. ** China"s factory-gate inflation cooled slightly in November, driven by a government crackdown on runaway commodity prices and an easing power crunch, potentially giving policymakers some latitude to unleash more stimulus. read more ** At the close, the Shanghai Composite index (.SSEC) was up 0.98% at 3,673.04, taking gains for the week to more than 1.8%. ** The blue-chip CSI300 index (.CSI300) jumped 1.66%, marking a more than 3.6% rise for the week so far. ** The financial sector subindex (.CSI300FS) rose 1.55%, the consumer staples sector (.CSI000912) added 1.78% and the healthcare subindex (.CSI300HC) gained 2.58%. ** The real estate index (.CSI000952) jumped 2.42% as hopes of a managed debt restructuring at developer China Evergrande Group (3333.HK) calmed fears of a messy corporate collapse after it missed a debt payment deadline this week. ** The rights of shareholders and creditors of Evergrande will be "fully respected" based on their legal seniorities, central bank governor Yi Gang said on Thursday. read more ** The smaller Shenzhen index (.SZSC) ended 0.84% higher and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index (.CNT) rose 1.011%. ** Around the region, MSCI"s Asia ex-Japan stock index (.MIAPJ0000PUS) was firmer by 0.7%, while Japan"s Nikkei index (.N225) closed 0.47% lower. ** The yuan eased to 6.3444 per U.S. dollar from its close on Wednesday of 6.3438 despite its daily midpoint fixing being set at a three-and-a-half-year high, but remained near its highest levels since May 2018. ** So far this year, the Shanghai stock index has gained 5.8% and the CSI300 has fallen 2.5%, while China"s H-share index listed in Hong Kong is down 19.4%. Shanghai stocks have risen 3.06% this month. Reporting by Andrew Galbraith; Editing by Devika Syamnath Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.