Chinese shares rose 2.7 percent Friday, driven by world stock market gains and expectations of economic recovery in the first quarter, analysts said.

China's exports dropped 17.1 percent in March from a year earlier to $90.29 billion, according to figures from the General Administration of Customs Friday. The decline slowed from the 25.7 percent year-on-year fall in February.

Imports grew by 14 percent month-on-month in March, pointing to improved foreign trade, according to Customs.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 2.7 percent, or 64.35 points to close at 2,444.23. The Shenzhen Component Index was up 3.49 percent, or 315.13 points to close at 9345.44.

Gains outnumbered losses by 899 to 18 in Shanghai and 763 to 20 in Shenzhen.

Combined turnover rose to 239.98 billion yuan ($35.14 billion) from 166.94 billion yuan the previous trading day.

The M2 figure -- a broad measure of money supply, which covers cash in circulation and all deposits -- was expected to rise 25 percent in March, which "suggested abundant liquidity," Guosen Securities analyst Lin Songli said.

"This is a big increase as the consumer price index for the same time is expected to fall and the gross domestic product in the first quarter may increase by only 6 percent," he said.

The banking sector led the gains Friday after China Merchant Bank (CMB) posted profit gains in 2008 Thursday in its unaudited annual report. Net profit rose from 15.24 billion yuan in 2007 to 21.08 billion yuan in 2008.

Share prices for the CMB rose 1.64 percent to close at 16.14 yuan, and those of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the largest lender by market value, rose 1.75 percent to 4.07 yuan and the Bank of Communications up 4.41 percent to 6.87 yuan.

The real estate sector rose as home sales in major cities have been increasing. "Share prices for real estate developers were supported by rising home sales," Lin said.

Gemdale Corp rose 3.97 percent to close at 11.25 yuan, and Poly Real Estate Group was up 3.27 percent to 22.75 yuan.

Reports on Friday that the government would allocate 9.3 percent of the 4-trillion-yuan stimulus package to support the energy sector drove up share prices of PetroChina by 1.68 percent to 11.48 yuan, and China Shenhua Energy, the biggest coal producer, by 4.59 percent to 22.81 yuan.