Global Market: China stocks slide as tech sell-off hits mainland markets; Alibaba lifts Hong Kong shares

Mainland China stocks declined on Thursday as weakness in technology shares weighed on sentiment, tracking losses across regional chipmakers, according to a Reuters report. Meanwhile, Hong Kong equities gained momentum, supported by a strong rally in Alibaba shares after the company announced a major artificial intelligence integration with Apple.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.8% at the midday break, while the blue-chip CSI300 index declined 0.9%. China’s technology-focused STAR50 index dropped 1%, and the start-up-focused CHINEXT index slipped 1.7%, reflecting broad weakness in growth-oriented stocks.

Semiconductor shares were among the biggest drags on mainland markets, with the sector sub-index plunging 2.5%. The decline followed sharp losses among major Asian chipmakers, with South Korea’s SK Hynix tumbling more than 12% and Samsung Electronics falling nearly 10% amid concerns over the technology sector outlook.


Despite the near-term pressure on technology stocks, investors continue to see opportunities in select areas of the Chinese market.

Hong Kong markets moved in the opposite direction, with the Hang Seng Index rising 1.9% and the city’s technology index gaining 3.1%. Alibaba led the gains, jumping 4.8% after the company said in a statement to Reuters that its Qwen artificial intelligence model would be integrated into Apple Intelligence services across Apple’s iPhone, iPad, Mac and Vision Pro operating systems in China.

The announcement boosted optimism around China’s AI ecosystem as Beijing continues to push efforts to develop domestic alternatives to US technology. Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to outline China’s approach to global AI governance at a forum on Friday, while Huawei is preparing to showcase its most advanced AI computing cluster, highlighting the country’s ambitions in artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Investors are also closely watching the upcoming Politburo meeting, where Chinese policymakers are expected to set the economic agenda for the second half of the year. However, markets have largely viewed recent weaker-than-expected second-quarter economic data as insufficient to trigger broad-based policy support.

Goldman Sachs economist Lisheng Wang said, according to Reuters, that the firm expects no policy rate or reserve requirement ratio cuts in China through the rest of 2026 under its baseline forecast. However, the possibility of additional easing could increase if economic growth slows further.

The contrasting moves between mainland China and Hong Kong reflect shifting investor preferences, with concerns over technology valuations weighing on domestic markets while AI-related developments and corporate announcements continue to drive interest in select Hong Kong-listed technology companies.