Chinese AI Stocks Rally on Demand Optimism and Policy Support

What happened

Hong Kong-listed Chinese AI names rallied sharply — Zhipu and MiniMax each jumped 23%+, with other players up 10-15%.

Context and impact

Two triggers: (1) Tencent announced native AI in WeChat, signaling enterprise demand acceleration; (2) Bloomberg revealed preparation of a 5-year state-backed AI build-out plan focused on compute and sovereign models. With the US holding off on the DeepSeek blacklist last week, the Chinese AI sector is becoming a politically protected island with its own capital cycle.

Details

• Zhipu, MiniMax +23%+
• Tencent piloting AI inside WeChat the same day
• Bloomberg: 5-year state AI plan in preparation
• US blacklist of DeepSeek + 100 firms postponed
• Forces global tech ETFs to reweight APAC AI exposure