(Bloomberg) — Chinese technology shares jumped on Friday, as a slew of upbeat earnings boosted sentiment and optimism over artificial intelligence continued to attract investors.
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A gauge of Chinese technology stocks traded in Hong Kong closed up 6.5% Friday at the highest level since early 2022, while the onshore SSE Science and Technology Innovation Board 50 Index ended 6% higher, the most in four months.
The gains in Hong Kong were led by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., whose shares surged 15% after the Chinese e-commerce giant reported sales that beat estimates. Bilibili Inc. and Lenovo Group Ltd. shares also climbed on better-than-expected results. On the mainland, AI chipmaker Cambricon Technologies Corp. rose by the daily limit of 20% to a record high.
Chinese technology shares have been on a tear in recent weeks as local AI startup DeepSeek’s breakthrough prompted investors to re-evaluate the nation’s leading internet companies. The Hang Seng Tech Index entered a bull market earlier this month on enthusiasm over DeepSeek’s AI model. More recently, President Xi Jinping’s meeting with Alibaba founder Jack Ma and other tech executives spurred interpretations that Beijing is taking a more conciliatory tone in fostering the sector’s development.
“There remains great growth potential for Chinese technology shares, and the Hang Seng Tech Index may even see growth rates similar to Nasdaq’s in the near future,” said Zhou Nan, founder and investment director of Shenzhen Long Hui Fund Management Co. “Investor optimism is supported by DeepSeek’s AI model, solid fundamentals of tech companies, and a changing geopolitical landscape for China as Donald Trump adopts a tough stance toward US’s alliances,” he said.
The broader Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 4.1%.
Alibaba’s results are partly fueling the market’s Friday rally, said Bo Pei, an equity research analyst at US Tiger Securities. Xi’s meeting with Ma is an “indicator of the government’s evolving stance toward private enterprises and capital markets. It also has implications for whether foreign long-only funds will regain confidence in Chinese equities.”
Alibaba’s shares are up 68% in Hong Kong this year. Its ADRs jumped 8.1% on Thursday after it reported sales that beat estimates, driven by the core Taobao and Tmall business as well as the closely watched cloud unit.
