Sci-tech industry reshapes China's A-share market

The sci-tech industry is reshaping China's capital market, according to the 2025 annual reports and the 2026 first-quarter reports recently released by companies listed on China's A-share market.

This week, the stock price of Yuanjie Semiconductor Technology Company surpassed that of the premium liquor producer Moutai and ranked first among A-share stocks.

The share price of Cambricon Technologies also reached a peak of 1,900 yuan (about 279 U.S. dollars) last Wednesday, setting a new record.

Only four stocks in the A-share market trade above 1,000 yuan, and three of them are in the tech sector.

The annual reports from over 5,200 companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges show that the sci-tech sector stands out for its exceptionally high research and development investment intensity.

In 2025, the research and development investment of listed companies stood at 1.7 trillion yuan, accounting for 2.6 percent of their revenue, reaching a historical high.

In the STAR Market (Sci-Tech Innovation Board), the research and development investment was close to 190 billion yuan, maintaining a research and development intensity of nearly 13 percent for seven consecutive years. Among them, the median research and development intensity of companies in the Sci-Tech Innovation Growth Layer was 43.7 percent, which means that for every 100 yuan of revenue, 43.7 yuan was invested in research and development.

The research and development investment in the ChiNext market exceeded 220 billion yuan, up nearly 10 percent. Chinese battery giant CATL spent 22.1 billion yuan on research and development alone in one year. In April this year, its total market value once surpassed that of traditional giants like China National Petroleum Corporation and Industrial and the Commercial Bank of China, ranking second among A-share stocks. Among the 20 companies with the highest stock prices at the A-share market currently, 19 are technology companies, accounting for 95 percent of the total. But five years ago, this figure was only 55 percent.

Foreign institutions also remain optimistic about China's capital market. Goldman Sachs recently maintained an overweight rating for China's stock market, believing that A-shares will generate excess returns for investors in areas such as artificial intelligence.

Sci-tech industry reshapes China's A-share market

Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Monday urged efforts to sustain steady economic growth in the second half of the year, while presiding over a symposium on economic situation.

Experts and entrepreneurs at the symposium agreed that against the backdrop of a volatile and tumultuous international situation, China's economy remained generally stable in the first half of the year, effectively responding to the uncertainties of the external environment with the certainty of its own development.

They also put forward suggestions on resolving the issues and problems in the economic operation. After hearing speeches of the experts and entrepreneurs, Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, stressed the need to have a comprehensive and objective understanding of the current economic situation, and realize that China's economy is now fully transitioning onto a high-quality development trajectory, featuring more solid internal support for a long-term positive outlook.

Doing a good job in economic work in the second half of the year is directly related to the achievement of the annual development goals and a good start to the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), Li said.

Li called for efforts to maintain strategic resolve to pursue high-quality development, strengthen efforts in counter-cyclical adjustments, unleash the potential of domestic demand through systematic implementation of measures, advance transition between old and new growth engines, and keep employment and enterprise operations stable.

Li encouraged entrepreneurs to consolidate confidence in development, explore opportunities for demand and industrial upgrading, and make more contributions to keeping employment stable and promoting development.

Li also expressed the hope that experts and scholars will strengthen forward-looking research and offer more constructive suggestions.

Chinese premier urges sustaining steady economic growth in H2