Most Chinese stocks gained Monday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index surging 2.47 percent in its biggest daily rise in 25 months to 2,815.11 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index closed 2.80 percent higher at 9,160.62 points.

Trading remained thin, with daily combined turnover standing at 325.9 billion yuan (about 49.1 billion U.S. dollars), shrinking from 356.4 billion yuan the previous trading day.

Gainers outnumbered losers by 1,278 to 67 at the Shanghai bourse and by 1,840 to 136 at Shenzhen.

The sharp increase came after the securities regulator announced Sunday that the country planned to allow more foreign individual investors to trade A-shares.

Foreign individuals working in the Chinese mainland, and those who work overseas at companies listed on the A-share market and enjoy equity incentives, will be allowed to open A-shares securities accounts, according to a statement on a draft rules revision released by the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

The move, a part of the country's broader plan to further open up its financial sector, will attract foreign capital and boost market sentiment, analysts said.

Financials staged strong performance, with the banking and insurance sub-indices increasing 3.08 percent and 2.97 percent, respectively.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country's largest commercial bank, rose 4.54 percent to 5.53 yuan. The Agricultural Bank of China gained 3.84 percent to 3.52 yuan, and China Merchants Bank was up 4.3 percent to 26.95 yuan. Citic Securities added 2.1 percent to 16.51 yuan.

The ChiNext Index, the country's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, rose 2.64 percent to close at 1,581.93 points Monday.