SHANGHAI, April 22 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks climbed more than 1.5% on Monday, as investors found comfort in China securities regulator's decision to promote the city's status as a global financial centre, although Chinese shares slipped.

Asian stocks recovered some losses and bond yields rose as fears of a wider Middle East conflict ebbed, with investors gravitating back towards riskier assets.

China will facilitate Hong Kong listings by leading Chinese companies and expand the Stock Connect cross-border investment scheme, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said on Friday.

The investment link between mainland China and Hong Kong will be broadened to include real estate investment trusts (REITs) and yuan-denominated stocks listed in Hong Kong. In addition, the bar will be lowered for exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under Stock Connect.

Iran said on Friday that it had no plan to retaliate following an apparent Israeli drone attack within its borders, which in turn followed an unprecedented Iranian missile and drone attack on Israel days before.

** At the midday break, Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong rose 1.6% to 5,838.22, and the Hang Seng Index was up 1.7% at 16,506.66.

** The Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.47% to 3,050.89 points.

** In Hong Kong, the sub-index of the Hang Seng index tracking energy shares dropped 1.8%, while the IT sector rose 3.6%. The top gainer on the Hang Seng was Sino Biopharmaceutical Ltd, up 7.26%.

** China's blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.22%, with its financial sector sub-index lower by 0.51%, the consumer staples sector up 1.82%, the real estate index down 0.73% and the healthcare sub-index up 0.42%.

** The smaller Shenzhen index was down 0.2%, the start-up board ChiNext Composite index dropped 0.2% and Shanghai's tech-focused STAR50 index was up 0.4%.

** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.7% while Japan's Nikkei index was up 0.3%.

(Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)