China tech stocks advanced for fourth day in Hong Kong as gathering signs that the government’s long crackdown on the sector is over bolstered investor confidence.
The latest leg of the rally came after Chinese Premier Li Qiang met with senior executives from country’s leading tech firms Wednesday and urged local governments to provide more support to the enterprises. He asked the companies to support the real economy through innovation and pledged that officials will create a fair environment and reduce compliance costs.
The Hang Seng Tech Index opened 2.5% higher, extending its four-day rally to more than 7%. Among the gainers, Bilibili Inc. rose as much as 7%, and Tencent Holdings Ltd. climbed as much as as 3.1%. The gains came after the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index climbed 3.4% in New York.
Chinese regulators last week imposed more than $1 billion of fines on Ant Group Co. and Tencent, a move widely interpreted as bringing closure to a regulatory assault that had wiped out billions in market value from the sector.
The comments from Li “signify that the Chinese authorities are turning to mega-cap internet companies as an instrument to pursue industrial policies, create employment, and attempt to tackle choke points in critical technology,” said Redmond Wong, strategist at Saxo Capital Markets HK Ltd.
--With assistance from Zhu Lin.
