SHANGHAI, April 15 (Reuters) - China stocks had a good

start to the week with major indexes up as investors interpreted

the new guidelines on the country's capital market as a positive

signal for the stock market. Hong Kong shares declined.

China's securities regulator issued draft rules on Friday to

strengthen the supervision of company listings, delistings and

computer-driven programme trading, in a move to improve the

stock market and protect investors' interests.

UBS strategist Lei Meng believes that the updated policies

would fundamentally guide the long-term healthy development of

the capital market, improve the quality of listed companies and

boost market confidence.

** At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index was

up 1.21% at 3,055.99 points.

** China's blue-chip CSI300 index was up 1.9%, with

its financial sector sub-index 1.68% higher, the

consumer staples sector rose 2.36%, the real estate

index advanced 1.01% and the healthcare sub-index

jumped 1.43%.

** Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong fell 0.41% to

5,855.59, while the Hang Seng Index was down 0.73% at

16,599.34.

** The smaller Shenzhen index was up 0.26%, the start-up

board ChiNext Composite index was 2.1% higher and

Shanghai's tech-focused STAR50 index was up 1.91%​.

** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index

was 0.85% weaker, while Japan's Nikkei index

was down 1.04%.

** The yuan was quoted at 7.2386 per U.S. dollar,

0.02% weaker than the previous close of 7.2372.

** The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite

index were Shaanxi Construction Machinery Co Ltd, up

10.13%, followed by Wolong Resources Group Co Ltd,

gaining 10.07% and Shanghai Shyndec Pharmaceutical Co Ltd

, up by 10.05%.

** The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were

SenseTime Group Inc ( SNTMF ), falling 4.55%, Li Ning Co Ltd ( LNNGF )

, lost 4% and Xpeng Inc ( XPEV ) was down 3.74%.