Information about Zhipu’s web-based AI service, called Z.ai, displayed on a computer in Shanghai, January 7, 2026.
Raúl Ariano | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Chinese artificial intelligence stocks rebounded Thursday as several companies unveiled improved models and top policymakers renewed calls for broader adoption of the technology.
Hong Kong-listed Zhipu AI – which trades as Knowledge Atlas Technology – jumped almost 30% to close at 405 Hong Kong dollars ($51.8), according to LSEG data, after the release of its GLM-5, an open source large language model with enhanced coding capabilities and long-running agent tasks.
The company said the model approaches Claude Opus 4.5 from Anthropic in coding tests while outperforming Google’s Gemini 3 Pro on some tests. CNBC was unable to verify these claims.
MiniMax saw Hong Kong stocks jump 13.7% to HK$70.5 at the close after Wednesday’s close. launch of its updated M2.5 open source model with enhanced AI agent tools, on its overseas website.
The company describes M2 as “a template designed for Max coding and agent workflows.”
The new publications have boosted investor confidence in AI-related companies. Shanghai-listed shares of UCloud Tech, which provides IT support to Zhipu, jumped 20% on Thursday to hit the daily limit.
SenseTime, which has shifted its focus from developing facial recognition surveillance technology to providing AI software platforms, saw its Hong Kong shares jump 6.8% on Thursday.
DeepSeek, which took the world by storm last year, upgraded its flagship AI model on Wednesday, adding support for a larger pop-up and more up-to-date insights, according to a report from the South China Morning Post.
Ant Group also released its open source AI model, Ming-Flash-Omni 2.0, on Wednesday. The “unified multimodal model” is capable of generating speech, music, sound effects and visuals.
ByteDance launched its latest iteration of its AI video generation app, Seedance 2.0, on Monday, which sparked a rally in Chinese AI app stocks. The company is also would have working with Samsung to develop in-house chips.
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On Wednesday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang highlighted on a global push for “large-scale, commercialized application of AI,” calling for better coordination of energy and computing resources to advance the technology.
Li also highlighted Beijing’s plans to improve the environment for AI talents and businesses.
The rally of purely AI startups comes amid a broader downturn in Chinese tech giants that also have AI divisions. Actions of Tencent And Alibaba fell 2.6% and 2.1%, respectively. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Tech index fell 1.7%.
The wave of releases comes amid growing competition in the AI space, as Chinese developers race to compete with their U.S. rivals.
On Wall Street, the AI business has seen increased volatility This year, investors have shifted from euphoria over the technology’s transformative potential to concerns about the high valuations of AI companies.
Tai Hui, chief APAC market strategist at JP Morgan, said on CNBC: “Squawk Asia Box” On Thursday, he deemed talk of the AI bubble “a little premature” with many quality names supported globally by strong fundamentals.
Investors are now making wiser bets on major cloud infrastructure and AI providers, whose big spending has been supported by underlying profits rather than heavy borrowing, Hui noted.
Chinese tech companies have taken a relatively frugal approach to AI development, with much lower capital expenditures than their U.S. rivals while focusing on the domestic market, said Rolf Bulk, an analyst at Futurum Group.
