(Yicai Global) Jan. 28 -- China's stock markets  went into the lunchtime break only slightly higher despite an early  surge at the opening after the sector's regulator named a new head.

Major indexes traded strongly early on before  subsiding mid-morning. China's A-share market was buoyed by the  installation of a new chairman at the China Securities Regulatory  Commission.

The Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.3 percent to  close at 2,610.14 points for lunch, after hitting 2,630.32 earlier. The  Shenzhen Component Index closed up 0.6 percent at 7,639.11 points and  the ChiNext Price Index, which tracks growth enterprises in Shenzhen,  was up 0.2 percent at 1,268.09 points after gaining as much as 1 percent  intraday.

The CSRC appointed Yi Huiman, former chairman of  China's biggest commercial lender, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of  China, as chair to replace Liu Shiyu who has taken another role in  market regulation.

Under Liu, the CSRC had launched a series of  measures to crack down on illegal activities in the capital market, but  he was unable to stop the market's downtrend which had drained investor  confidence. The Shanghai Composite Index has lost as much as 30 percent  of its value since peaking last January.