Germany's DAX climbs to 3-week high, European shares up

* DAX up 0.5 pct, FTSEurofirst 300 up 0.4 pct

* Germany's private sector grows for 16th month in Aug.

* Miners down after disappointing China data

By Atul Prakash

LONDON, Aug 21 (Reuters) - European shares rose on Thursday,

with Germany's DAX index climbing to a three-week high

after a survey showed the country's private sector grew for the

16th month running in August.

The DAX rose 0.5 percent to 9,355.57 points by 0826 GMT

after the PMI survey raised expectations that Europe's largest

economy could expand robustly in the third quarter after it

suffered a surprise contraction in the second.

"It's a relief rally. There were concerns that the German

economy was going to suffer because of Ukraine-related issues,

but today's data shows that the economy is going to keep on

growing," Koen De Leus, senior economist at KBC, said.

Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International (Other OTC: RAIFY - news) rose 5

percent, the top gainer in the FTSEurofirst 300 index,

after saying it expected "no significant impact" from western

sanctions against Russia, underscoring its commitment to its

single most profitable market.

The broader European stock market gained, with the

FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares rising 0.4 percent

to 1,351.63 points.

Miners lost some ground after disappointing manufacturing

data from China, the world's biggest metals consumer.

The STOXX Europe 600 Basic Resources index fell 0.4

percent, the biggest sectoral decliner in Europe, after the

HSBC/Markit Flash China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index

(PMI) fell to 50.3 in August from July's 18-month high of 51.7,

badly missing a Reuters forecast of 51.5.

Miners Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton (NYSE: BBL - news) and

Antofagasta (Other OTC: ANFGF - news) dropped 0.3 to 0.6 percent.

Investors' focus is shifting to the annual meeting of top

central bankers in Jackson Hole from Thursday through Saturday.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is expected to acknowledge

that while U.S. data has generally been supportive, she remains

concerned about slack in the labor market. She will speak on

Friday.

Minutes from the Fed's July 29-30 meeting showed late on

Wednesday that most Fed officials wanted more evidence before

changing their view on when rates should rise.

On the European earnings front, the picture was mixed.

Dutch supermarket group Ahold reported

weaker-than-expected operating profit for the second quarter,

while Swiss dental implant maker Nobel Biocare (Other OTC: NBHGF - news) 's net

profit almost doubled.

Ahold shares fell 2 percent and Nobel Biocare was up 2.1

percent.

Europe bourses in 2014: http://link.reuters.com/pap87v

Asset performance in 2014: http://link.reuters.com/gap87v

Today's European research round-up

(editing by John Stonestreet)