Higher Oil Prices Lift China Clean Technology, Week in Review
7 Min. Read Time
Week in Review
- Asian equities were mixed but mostly lower for the week as Vietnam and Australia outperformed, while Korea and Hong Kong underperformed.
- Humanoid robotics maker Unitree announced Tuesday that it will raise $608.3 million by selling 40.45 million shares via a STAR Board IPO.
- Global E-Commerce giant PDD Holdings reported Q4 earnings on Wednesday, beating estimats on top line revenue, but coming up short on profitability due to heavy investments in merchant support and user experience.
- Meituan missed estimates for both revenue and net income in the fourth quarter, according to its report on Thursday, as losses deepened due to high levels of consumer subsidies to defend its restaurant delivery business from competition from Alibaba and JD.
- In our latest video, Xiabing Su explores Asia’s Largest Consumer Electronics Expo.
Friday's Key News
Asian equities were mixed after President Trump’s Iran escalation threat was postponed, despite a stronger US dollar. Vietnam outperformed, while India underperformed following yesterday’s market holiday. The Indian Rupee fell nearly -1% versus the US dollar overnight. The Philippines was only off slightly, despite declaring a national emergency on declining oil reserves.
After the close in Hong Kong, BYD, which was up +2.1% in Mainland China and +3.7% in Hong Kong, released its 2025 financial results. Revenue and net income both missed analyst expectations. Despite the miss, I thought that the company's gross margin of 18% and 2025 Revenue of RMB 803 billion versus 2021’s only RMB 216 billion were quite impressive! We will be sure to provide a full deep dive on Monday.
A Mainland media source is reported, after the close, that Tencent is partnering with AI large language model provider MiniMax on cloud efforts. Maybe this could be a catalyst for Monday?
China reported that Industrial Profits year-to-date (YTD) through February increased +15.2% versus the same period last year, driven by technology, telecom, and mining profits. That represented yet another data set confirming a strong start to the year from an economic perspective. This is also evidenced by the Citi China Economic Index. Have you seen a chart of it? I’ll put the chart up on X/Twitter (@ahern_brendan).
Both Hong Kong and Mainland China opened lower, but grinded higher across the trading day on good breadth and moderate volumes. Healthcare was the top-performing sector in both markets, led by pharmaceutical companies. Several companies reported results that missed, but the stocks were still positive. Innovent gained +7.68%, Akeso gained +2.18%, CSPC gained +13.85%, Wuxi Biologics gained +2.60%, and 3SBio +10.41%. Battery giant CATL had a strong day in both markets, while insurance giant PICC fell -7.18% after results missed. Internet stocks were lower, but not nearly as much as the steep decline in US-listed China stocks from yesterday.
Mainland investors were net sellers of Hong Kong-listed stocks and ETFs via Southbound Stock Connect overnight. It was driven by another "Jekyll & Hyde" style flip-flop from yesterday, which saw strong net buying, with selling concentrated in the Hong Kong Tracker ETF.
Xiaomi gained +1.73% after CEO Lei Jun spoke about advancements in humanoid robot hand technology capabilities. Mainland China was led by growth stocks, except for technology hardware, which underperformed, as banks outperformed.
The Ministry of Commerce (MoC) is opening two investigations into US trade barriers in response t the US Trade Representative (USTR) Office’s 301 investigation into “excess capacity”. How do we know it is in response to the US examination? Because they said so, calling it “reciprocal”.
During the 14th World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference, China’s Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao met with European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Valdis Dombrovskis.
Premier Li and the State Council had a meeting that included a focus on the service industry. The release from the meeting indicated "the need to focus on key areas with strong driving force, improve supporting policies and institutional mechanisms, increase support in finance, taxation, and resource guarantees, expand market access and openness in the service industry, and fully unleash market vitality.” The PBOC held the 2026 Financial Stability Work Conference, noting the usual “opening up” and “reduce existing risks”.
Once the Middle East tensions do simmer down, it would be hard to imagine that there will not be strong demand for China-based companies' clean technology outputs, i.e. solar, wind, nuclear, electric vehicles, and battery storage. We are in the classic beta, i.e. risk off, environment, but who wouldn’t rather own an electric vehicle right now over a gas guzzler? I need to fill up our family SUV later today, which will cost me $100, I assume. With one of my kids approaching 16, there is no way the next Ahern family vehicle will not be a hybrid. Due to the cold here, I would not own a fully electric vehicle, in my opinion. With the Philippines having only 40 to 45 days of oil left, don't you think Philippine households are thinking the same? Countries facing gas shortages will likely push electric vehicle adoption. Countries with Middle East dependent gas should look at diversifying into renewables.
Except for the French, Chinese companies are very good at building nuclear energy plants as Malaysia declared yesterday it would examine “nuclear energy to boost long-term security”. How many investors own China National Nuclear Power? China clean tech stocks are outperforming Hong Kong and Mainland indices by 10% over the last month.
March “official” PMIs will be reported Monday local time.
Last Night's Performance
| Country / Index | Ticker | 1-Day Change |
|---|---|---|
| China (Hong Kong) | HSI Index | 0.4% |
| Hang Seng Tech | HSTECH Index | 0.3% |
| Hong Kong Turnover | HKTurn Index | 0.5% |
| Hong Kong Short Sale Turnover | HKSST Index | -1.5% |
| Short Turnover as a % of Hong Kong Turnover | N/A | 19% |
| Southbound Stock Connect Net Buy/Sell (US $ Millions) | N/A | -368.25 |
| China (Shanghai) | SHCOMP Index | 0.6% |
| China (Shenzhen) | SZCOMP Index | 1.3% |
| China (STAR Board) | Star50 Index | 0.9% |
| Mainland Turnover | .chturn Index | -4.5% |
| Japan | NKY Index | -0.4% |
| India | SENSEX Index | -2.2% |
| Indonesia | JCI Index | -0.9% |
| Malaysia | FBMKLCI Index | 0.1% |
| Pakistan | KSE100 Index | -0.8% |
| Philippines | PCOMP Index | -0.2% |
| South Korea | KOSPI Index | -0.4% |
| Taiwan | TWSE Index | -0.7% |
| Thailand | SET Index | 0.3% |
| Singapore | STI Index | 0.2% |
| Australia | AS51 Index | -0.1% |
| Vietnam | VNINDEX Index | 1.7% |
| Indicator | Hong Kong | Mainland China |
|---|---|---|
| Today's Volume % of 1-Year Average | 101 | 95 |
| Advancing Stocks | 329 | 4022 |
| Declining Stocks | 177 | 1042 |
| Outperforming Factors | Momentum, Liquidity, Quality | Momentum, Quality, Growth |
| Underperforming Factors | Value | Value, Dividend Yield, Large Caps |
| Top Sectors | Healthcare, Materials, Staples | Healthcare, Materials, Staples |
| Bottom Sectors | Utilities, Communication, Real Estate | Utilities, Tech, Financials |
| Top Subsectors | Pharmaceuticals, Electrical Equipment, Healthcare Equipment | Pharmaceuticals, Fertilizer/Pesticide, Biotech |
| Bottom Subsectors | Semis, Household Appliances, Commercial/Professional Services | Port, Highway, Computer Hardware |
| Southbound Connect Buys | Pop Mart (Moderate), Meituan, Tencent, YOFC (Small) | N/A |
| Southbound Connect Sells | HK Tracker (Very Large), Alibaba, SMIC, Xiaomi (Moderate) | N/A |
| MSCI China All Shares Index | # of Stocks | Average 1-Day Change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Hong Kong Listed | 164 | 0.44 |
| Communication Services | 11 | -0.44 |
| Consumer Discretionary | 28 | 0.11 |
| Consumer Staples | 12 | 1.12 |
| Energy | 6 | 0.88 |
| Financials | 25 | 0.57 |
| Health Care | 16 | 5.23 |
| Industrials | 19 | 0.94 |
| Information Technology | 15 | 0.23 |
| Materials | 14 | 1.24 |
| Real Estate | 1 | -0.25 |
| Utilities | 6 | -0.56 |
| Mainland China Listed | 11 | 0.63 |
| Communication Services | 11 | 1.14 |
| Consumer Discretionary | 26 | 0.67 |
| Consumer Staples | 18 | 1.49 |
| Energy | 11 | 0.06 |
| Financials | 64 | -0.1 |
| Health Care | 29 | 3.68 |
| Industrials | 60 | 0.78 |
| Information Technology | 113 | -0.19 |
| Materials | 58 | 2.06 |
| US & Hong Kong Dually Listed | Ticker | 1-Day Change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Tencent HK | 700 HK Equity | -0.4 |
| Alibaba HK | 9988 HK Equity | -0.3 |
| JD.com HK | 9618 HK Equity | 0.1 |
| NetEase HK | 9999 HK Equity | 0.8 |
| Yum China HK | 9987 HK Equity | 2.1 |
| Baozun HK | 9991 HK Equity | -3 |
| Baidu HK | 9888 HK Equity | -0.9 |
| Autohome HK | 2518 HK Equity | 0.4 |
| Bilibili HK | 9626 HK Equity | -1.6 |
| Trip.com HK | 9961 HK Equity | 0.3 |
| EDU HK | 9901 HK Equity | 1 |
| Xpeng HK | 9868 HK Equity | -0.5 |
| Weibo HK | 9898 HK Equity | 1 |
| Li Auto HK | 2015 HK Equity | 1.5 |
| Nio Auto HK | 9866 HK Equity | -2.4 |
| Zhihu HK | 2390 HK Equity | -2.7 |
| KE HK | 2423 HK Equity | 0.8 |
| Tencent Music Entertainment HK | 1698 HK Equity | 1.5 |
| Meituan HK | 3690 HK Equity | -0.9 |
| Hong Kong's Most Heavily Traded by Value | 1-Day Change (%) |
|---|---|
| TENCENT HOLDINGS LTD | -0.4 |
| MEITUAN-CLASS B | -0.9 |
| ALIBABA GROUP HOLDING LTD | -0.3 |
| POP MART INTERNATIONAL GROUP | -0.7 |
| YANGTZE OPTICAL FIBRE AND-H | -4.6 |
| XIAOMI CORP-CLASS B | 1.7 |
| BYD CO LTD-H | 3.7 |
| PING AN INSURANCE GROUP CO-H | 2 |
| CNOOC LTD-H | -0.5 |
| SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURI-H | -1.2 |
| Shanghai and Shenzhen's Most Heavily Traded by Value | 1-Day Change (%) |
|---|---|
| EOPTOLINK TECHNOLOGY INC L-A | -2.1 |
| ZHONGJI INNOLIGHT CO LTD-A | -2.6 |
| CONTEMPORARY AMPEREX TECHN-A | 3.4 |
| HGTECH CO LTD-A | 3.9 |
| GANFENG LITHIUM GROUP CO L-A | 10 |
| SUNGROW POWER SUPPLY CO LT-A | -1.6 |
| SUZHOU TFC OPTICAL COMMUNI-A | -2.3 |
| LUXSHARE PRECISION INDUSTR-A | 0.8 |
| BIWIN STORAGE TECHNOLOGY C-A | -0.2 |
| ZIJIN MINING GROUP CO LTD-A | 1.2 |
Last Night's Exchange Rates, Prices, & Yields
- CNY per USD 6.91 versus 6.91 yesterday
- CNY per EUR 7.96 versus 7.98 yesterday
- Yield on 10-Year Government Bond 1.82% versus 1.82% yesterday
- Yield on 10-Year China Development Bank Bond 1.97% versus 1.96% yesterday
- Copper Price 0.13%
- Steel Price -0.32%
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