Chinese Internet Stocks Jump as Beijing Signals Support

By Yifan Wang

Shares of Chinese internet platform companies jumped in Hong Kong Thursday as investors welcomed Beijing's latest signal supporting the sector.

Food delivery company Meituan rose as much as 6.4% and was last 5.7% higher. Video streaming platform Bilibili Inc. jumped 8.1% and short-video app operator Kuaishou Technology rose 6.7%. E-commerce giant Alibaba Group added 2.6%.

The rally came after Chinese Premier Li Qiang met with senior executives from the country's leading technology firms, including Meituan and Alibaba, on Wednesday. Li emphasized the importance of the sector in creating jobs and fostering innovation.

Analysts say the meeting represents another signal that Beijing's crackdown on the tech sector has likely come to an end and regulations for the sector should stabilize.

"The increasing clarity on government policies and regulatory frameworks for the internet sector should boost investor sentiment," analysts at Citic Securities said in a note following the Wednesday meeting.

Write to Yifan Wang at yifan.wang@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 12, 2023 23:41 ET (03:41 GMT)

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