Chinese shares climbed Monday despite worries over Industrial & Commercial Bank of China's plans for a huge initial public offering in Shanghai. The yuan rose to yet another high against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.3 percent to 1,657.52. The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 1.5 percent to 422.01.

ICBC, China's largest bank by assets, plans to list shares in both Shanghai and Hong Kong by the end of October. It aims to raise 20 billion yuan to 60 billion yuan (US$2.5 billion-US$7.3 billion; euro1.95 billion-euro5.7 billion) with its yuan-denominated share offering in Shanghai, according to materials seen by Dow Jones Newswires.

Airlines posted strong gains as October crude fell below US$70 a barrel on Nymex, and the stronger yuan, which carriers with large dollar-denominated debts.

China Eastern Airlines soared 7.4 percent to 2.60 yuan; China Southern Airlines gained 4.3 percent to 2.44, and heavyweight Air China rose 2.5 percent to 2.84.

Companies that will likely benefit from the 2008 Olympic Games in China led Monday's gains on rotational buying.

Beijing Jingxi Tourism Development gained 10 percent, the daily limit, to 7.35; China Sports Industry was also up 10 percent, at 16.25, as was retail firm Beijing Xidan Market, up 10 percent at 5.49.

"Investors are favoring Olympics stocks now because there has been less trading activity in this sector than some other sectors," said Zhou Lin, an analyst at Huatai Securities.

The dollar fell to 7.9394 per dollar on the over-the-counter market by 0829 GMT on expectations of mounting political pressure for the Chinese currency to rise, dealers said. The dollar closed at 7.9532 on Friday.

The U.S. dollar closed at 7.9410 on the automatic price matching system, another measure for the exchange rate. It closed at 7.9540 Friday.