South Korean Retail Investors' Net Purchase of Chinese AI Assets Exceeds $2.8 Billion in the First Half of the Year, with Bitmain and Cambricon Technologies as Top Picks

BlockBeats News, July 4th, according to data from the Korea Securities Depository Securities Information Portal, in the first half of 2026, South Korean investors accumulated a net purchase of Chinese assets through individual stocks and ETFs totaling approximately $2.819 billion. The amount invested in A-shares was around $678 million, a year-on-year surge of 130.55%. Semiconductor equipment company, Nothern Huachuang, took the top spot in A-share purchases with around $33.94 million, followed closely by AI chip leader Cambricon Technologies with $27.28 million, and CATL ranking third. South Korean retail investors are actively buying into what is considered the "Chinese NVIDIA," with the core logic being the improvement in profitability and the expected enhancement of China's AI semiconductor self-reliance.

As for Hong Kong stocks, SMIC was the most favored Chinese asset by South Korean investors, with $85.46 million in investments. AI company MiniMax, which went public in January, ranked second with approximately $66.65 million in purchases, followed by Alibaba in third place. ETFs have become an important allocation channel, with a total net inflow of around $209 million into 10 Chinese asset ETFs in the first half of the year, led by the Global X China Semiconductor ETF with approximately $60.83 million.

A Standard Chartered Bank analyst stated that the attitude of overseas funds towards Chinese assets has "undergone a fundamental change," shifting from a geopolitical discount perspective to a revaluation logic based on the value of the AI industry.