Chinese A‑shares opened higher on Thursday, led by a renewed run in semiconductor and storage‑chip stocks as investors priced in stronger demand from data‑centre buildouts and artificial‑intelligence spending. The Shanghai Composite rose 0.22% to 4,126.07, Shenzhen’s benchmark gained 0.41% to 14,313.63 and the CSI 300 added 0.4% to 4,741.75; STAR‑board and technology indices outperformed, with the Sci‑Tech 50 up 1.82%.
Trading sentiment was concentrated in memory and storage plays: several companies in the storage chain opened sharply higher, with Yingfang Micro (盈方微) marking a third consecutive limit‑up and Baiwei Storage (佰维存储) among names opening strongly. Market breadth was mixed — gold and precious‑metals names retreated after earlier strength while pockets of speculative momentum persisted in long‑running limit‑up stocks such as Fenglong (16 consecutive boards) and other heavily traded small caps.
A stream of company updates underpinned the sector narrative. Tianfu Communication (天孚通信) forecast net profit of RMB 1.88–2.15 billion for the year, citing robust uptake of high‑speed optical devices from AI and data‑centre expansion. Baiwei Storage said its wafer‑level packaging plant in Dongguan is on track to reach monthly capacity of 5,000 wafers by end‑2026 and 10,000 by end‑2027, with revenue contributions expected from late‑2026. Moore Threads (摩尔线程) projected very strong revenue growth to RMB 1.45–1.52 billion in 2025 but still expects a narrowing net loss of RMB 950–1,060 million as it scales.
The market backdrop includes global and supply‑chain developments that help explain the move. Western CPU vendors intend to raise server CPU prices by 10–15% to rebalance supply and demand, while TSMC is expanding advanced packaging capacity — both developments bode well for demand for high‑speed memory, interconnects and advanced packaging suppliers. Domestically, policy nudges toward “AI+” urban strategies and continued 6G test progress add to the cyclical tailwinds for chip and data‑infrastructure suppliers.
Not all signals are uniformly positive. Raw‑material and component price inflation — from copper to PCB substrates — introduces input‑cost volatility, and several commodity‑linked names opened lower. High‑beta small caps continue to show detached price action, which raises the prospect of swift reversals if sentiment shifts. Regulators’ intolerance for extreme price moves remains a latent constraint in China’s retail‑driven market.
For international investors the episode is instructive: demand drivers that flow from AI and cloud buildouts are global, but the beneficiaries are localised across national supply chains. Chinese foundry, packaging and memory suppliers are positioning to capture a slice of that spending, yet their fortunes will hinge on product pricing, input costs and the pace of domestic and overseas capex by hyperscalers. In the near term, market gains led by chip stocks reflect a convergence of earnings previews, capacity announcements and broader optimism about AI‑related demand rather than a wholesale macro uplift.