China's stocks rose the most since March, erasing losses from Wednesday's rout, after better-than-estimated earnings at Bank of Communications Co revived confidence that the economy is recovering.

The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 126, or 4.5 percent, to 2911.58 at the close, the most since March 4. The gauge fell 4.3 percent on Wednesday, briefly dipping more than 20 percent below its Aug 4 high, the threshold for a bear market.

"It's normal and healthy for the market to have a correction after pretty fast share price gains," said Xu Lirong, a Shanghai-based fund manager at Franklin Templeton Sealand Fund Management Co.