BEIJING, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese shares ended a 9-day losing streak and closed slightly higher on Monday as fears of a year end cash crunch diminished following the central bank's liquidity injection last week.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.24 percent, or 4.91 points, to finish at 2,089.71. The Shenzhen Component Index added 0.29 percent, or 22.79 points, to finish at 7,989.51.

Total turnover on Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses shrank to 131.94 billion yuan (21.57 billion U.S. dollars) from 153.55 billion yuan on the previous trading day.

The People's Bank of China announced on Dec. 20 that it had injected over 300 billion yuan into the market via short-term operations because of the tightening money supply toward the end of the year.

Pharmaceutical companies were the day's biggest winners, with the sub-index for the sector rising 2.75 percent. Beijing Tiantan Biological Products Corp. rose by the daily limit of 10 percent. Guizhou Yibai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. gained 4.53 percent to end at 31.88 yuan per share.

The entertainment industry led the losses, with its sub-index down 2.21 percent. Huayi Brothers Media Corp. fell by the daily limit of 10 percent. Beijing Enlight Media Co., Ltd. lost 4.91 percent to 36.99 yuan.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, shed 0.87 percent, or 10.91 points, to close at 1,242.81 points on Monday.