Chinese tech stocks gained for a third day in Hong Kong as unusual praise from the nation’s top economic planner and news of a meeting between officials and key companies stoked optimism over policy support for the sector.
(Bloomberg) — Chinese tech stocks gained for a third day in Hong Kong as unusual praise from the nation’s top economic planner and news of a meeting between officials and key companies stoked optimism over policy support for the sector.
The Hang Seng Tech Index advanced to a three-week high after the National Development and Reform Commission commended enterprises such as Tencent Holdings Ltd., Meituan and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. for supporting the nation’s technological innovation with increased investment.
The positive comments came after the head of China’s Ministry of Science and Technology was reported by local media on Tuesday to have met executives of six private tech companies last week, including Xiaomi Corp. and Alibaba Cloud Computing Beijing Co.
The latest developments are being taken as further signs Beijing is switching to a more supportive stance toward the nation’s private sector after a crackdown that lasted more than two years. Regulators levied fines on financial technology firms backed by Tencent and Alibaba on Saturday, a move seen to end their clampdown on the sector.
The reform commission’s praise of tech platforms “helped aid the overall sentiment,” said Vey-Sern Ling, managing director at Union Bancaire Privee in Singapore. The rally is also “probably just a carry over from the positive sentiment over the weekend of Ant and Tenpay’s fines,” he said.
The best-performing stocks Wednesday included video-streaming-platform operator Bilibili Inc., which jumped as much as 9.2%, and Kuaishou Technology, which gained as much as 5.8%. The Hang Seng Tech Index rose 2.8%, but is still down more than 60% from its high in February 2021.
–With assistance from Zhu Lin.
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