China's A-share market saw a surge in early trading Tuesday, with the Shanghai Composite briefly breaking the 4,000-point mark for the first time since 2015 before reversing gains.
On Tuesday, China's A-share market opened strong, continuing the momentum from the previous trading day. The Shanghai Composite Index surged in morning trading, climbing past the 4,000-point level and hitting an intraday high of 4,010.73 points, marking its first breach of that threshold since August 18, 2015.
However, the market experienced volatility in the afternoon, pulling back before the session end. The Shanghai Composite closed the day down 0.22 percent at 3,988.22 points. Among the strongest-performing sectors were shipbuilding, automotive services and port shipping.
"I think the quality of listed sci-tech companies and their future growth potential will be much better than in the past," said Mr. Liu, an individual investor.
Market performance so far in 2025 has followed a "first down, then up" trajectory. The Shanghai Composite hit its yearly low of 3,040.69 points on April 7, before climbing steadily to post a year-to-date gain of 18.99 percent.
Growth boards like the ChiNext and STAR Market fared even better, with respective gains of 50.8 percent and 48.82 percent. Among sectors, telecoms, semiconductors, and innovative pharmaceuticals led the rally. Notably, the Telecom ETF soared over 70 percent this year, while the Semiconductor ETF rose more than 50 percent.
"The Shanghai Composite reaching 4,000 points is a natural result of three forces resonating in China's accelerating economic transformation, deepening capital market reforms, and surging demand for asset allocation among residents. Over the past year, the A-share market fully reflected China's breakthroughs in scientific and technological innovation and its significantly improved global competitiveness," said Su Hui, senior strategic analyst at Guotai Haitong Securities Research Institute.
Shanghai composite briefly tops 4,000 for first time in decade
China's Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao outlined the key priorities of the 32nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting, which opened on Friday in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu province.
In an interview with CGTN ahead of the two-day meeting, Wang said free trade, digital cooperation and green economy are high on the agenda of the meeting.
"The key areas include advancing regional economic integration and the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, supporting the World Trade Organization (WTO) in strengthening digital cooperation and developing green economy. At present, the international situation is marked by intertwined turbulence and chaos, with intensified geopolitical instability. The rise of unilateralism and protectionism poses serious challenges to the international economic and trade order, disrupting global and Asia-Pacific development. Against this backdrop, all parties have higher expectations for this trade ministers' meeting, hoping that it can build consensus and deliver outcomes," Wang said.
This year marks China's third time hosting the APEC meetings and the 35th anniversary of its membership.
By 2025, China had become the largest trading partner of 13 APEC economies. Trade between China and APEC economies reached 3.7 trillion U.S. dollars, accounting for 57.8 percent of China's total foreign trade.
China has signed 24 free trade agreements or economic and trade arrangements with 31 countries and regions, including 15 APEC economies. In recent years, China has also completed upgrades of free trade agreements with APEC economies such as Singapore and Peru.
The minister said that China has always been a firm supporter and an important contributor to APEC.
"We have actively shared our vast market and development opportunities with all parties. China's door to the world will only open wider and wider. Facing the common challenges, China will continue to fulfill its responsibilities as a major country, further deepen reform, expand high-standard opening-up, and continue to provide new opportunities for the Asia-Pacific region and the world with its new achievements in Chinese modernization," the minister said.
China's Commerce Minister outlines priorities for 32nd APEC trade ministers' meeting
