A-Share conference opens in Shenzhen, highlighting tech sector opportunities

The 22nd Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) Securities China A-Share Conference opened in Shenzhen, in south China's Guangdong Province on Monday, drawing institutional investors eying opportunities in China's most innovative companies.

The conference spotlighted China's A-share market and its leading tech firms. With the Shanghai Composite Index reaching its highest levels in a decade and the total market capitalization of trade companies on the index exceeding 100 trillion yuan (about 13.8 trillion U.S. dollars), global investors are closely watching opportunities and risks in high-growth sectors like artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics.

"Technology sector is definitely one of the the leading focus for global investor investing into China, whether it's EV and the supply chain of batteries, renewables, and increasingly, the AI supply chain, which is relatively domestic focus, given the geopolitical backdrop, have also attracted global investors' attention," said Fang Dongming, head of China global markets, UBS.

With China's launch of the "AI Plus" initiative, focus is shifting to how AI can upgrade traditional sectors and create new economic growth drivers.

"I think the biggest opportunity is that humanoid robots actually can resolve a lot of problems, for example, labor shortage and the aging population, and also can help people, humans, to switch to high valued work," said Wang Feili, a China machinery analyst.

Nevertheless, challenges persist. Recent U.S. rules requiring U.S. tech giant Nvidia and U.S. computer chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) to give 15 percent of their AI chip sales revenue in China to the U.S. government are expected to raise costs and squeeze profits for many A-share listed tech firms.

Chinese companies are adapting to this trade turmoil, exploring local solutions to local problems.

"The China internet leaders are trying. These companies, they are stockpiling, they are localizing supply chain, and they are driving continued innovation in efficiency gain to deal with the uncertainty," said Xiong Wei, a China internet analyst.

While geopolitical tensions pose real challenges, they are also spurring investment in homegrown innovation, from AI chips to humanoid robots, creating new opportunities in China's A-share tech sector.

"The PBOC (People's Bank of China) can provide or even expand the size of special facilities, like our lending facilities, to support the targeted sectors including AI tech, with a bigger quota and with a lower interest rate. The financial market can offer more support to the tech sector as a whole - for the fundraising, IPO (Initial Public Offerings) market, the bond issuance, and also the PE and VC market," said Zhang Ning, a senior China economist, UBS.

Delegates at the conference said the outlook for China's A-share tech sector remains strong, bolstered by policy support, market momentum, and a dynamic innovation ecosystem.

A-Share conference opens in Shenzhen, highlighting tech sector opportunities

Returning to a full-scale war would have catastrophic consequences, a UN spokesman said at a press briefing at the UN headquarters in New York on Monday. Recent tensions over the Strait of Hormuz have exposed the deep divisions between the United States and Iran, further heightening uncertainty over their fragile ceasefire.

In response to a media query regarding the claims by U.S. President Donald Trump that the weeks-long ceasefire with Iran is on "massive life support," Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, stressed the need for concerted efforts to stay committed to negotiations.

He said that the United Nations will not be swayed by the rhetoric of the parties involved in the U.S.-Iran negotiations, and its core objective is to push all parties to remain committed to negotiations.

"We have tried over the years in all of our diplomatic efforts not to listen too much to the rhetoric by any particular side involved in negotiations. What we want to do is make sure that the parties themselves remain committed to negotiations. Certainly, we appreciate the role that Pakistan has been playing as a mediator, and we want the efforts to continue. A return to full-scale fighting would be, as the Secretary-General has repeatedly said, catastrophic," he said. Both U.S. and Iranian forces have fired shots at each other in the Strait of Hormuz since the ceasefire took effect earlier last month.

Returning to full-scale US-Iran war would be "catastrophic": UN official