{
  "id": 15115573,
  "title": "Chinese stocks turn biggest losers as global AI trade stumbles",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/17/chinese-stocks-turn-biggest-losers-as-global-ai-trade-stumbles-15115573",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-10-17T04:11:03.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Business Times - Companies & Markets",
    "slug": "the-business-times-companies-markets",
    "url": "https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/chinese-stocks-turn-biggest-losers-global-ai-trade-stumbles"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Chinese firms have become the biggest losers in the faltering global artificial intelligence trade, dealing a setback to Beijing's goal of technological supremacy through capital markets. The Star50 Index, a tech-focused index, has plummeted nearly 40% in the current half year, making it the world's worst-performing major tech gauge. Tech giants like MetaX Integrated Circuits Shanghai and Moore Threads Technology have each lost around half of their value in this period. The ChiNext index, also focused on hardware stocks, has lost 36%. This marks a reversal of fortunes from earlier this year when the Star50 enjoyed a significant rally as investors ignored high valuations to bet on China's AI ambitions and global market. Now, scrutiny of future demand and earnings prospects has hit Chinese stocks hard, raising concerns given the growing reliance on equity financing by the country's firms. \"It would be much harder for China to achieve its AI ambitions if technology stocks remain under pressure for an extended period,\" said Leonid Mironov, a portfolio manager at Gavekal Capital. The recent sell-off has particularly affected foreign investors who had poured money into the sector in Q2. Outflows from a trading link with Hong Kong, which allows foreign investors access to Chinese local stocks, totaled an estimated 90 billion yuan in the third quarter, the biggest in a year. This has reversed more than half of the inflows between April and June. The sell-off has also weighed on some of China's hottest trading debuts. Memory-chip giant CXMT, which went public in July, has fallen 27% from its post-listing peak, while robotics firm Yushu Technology has lost around 50% from an August high shortly after its initial public offering. Despite these challenges, Chinese companies have raised a combined US$37 billion from onshore IPOs this year, the highest annual proceeds in three years. However, the underperformance of China's tech stocks poses a challenge for authorities that want to use capital markets to fuel firm growth. The country's AI-linked companies and startups have shown a stronger preference for equity financing over debt, partly due to the higher costs of issuing bonds globally. Equities are \"the default source\" of funding for China's AI firms, according to Mironov. If the slump persists, Beijing may need to take more proactive steps to boost the financial sector and deploy state-backed funds more aggressively.",
  "summary": "Underperformance of tech stocks poses a challenge for authorities keen to use capital markets to fuel firms’ growth",
  "key_points": [
    "Chinese stocks plummet 40% in half year, worst-performing major tech gauge",
    "MetaX Integrated Circuits and Moore Threads Technology lose half value",
    "Outflows from Hong Kong trading link total 90 billion yuan in Q3"
  ],
  "editors_take": "The sudden collapse in tech valuations threatens Beijing's reliance on equity financing to fuel its pursuit of technological supremacy and may force more aggressive state intervention in the markets.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Bloomberg",
        "title": "Chinese Stocks Turn Biggest Losers as Global AI Trade Stumbles",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/17/chinese-stocks-turn-biggest-losers-as-global-ai-trade-stumbles",
        "published": "2026-10-17T00:00:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}