HONG KONG: Shares in e-commerce titan Alibaba soared more than 14 percent Friday, extending a blistering rally in Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, after forecast-topping earnings added to a growing sense of optimism over Chinese tech firms. The Hangzhou-based company operates some of China’s most widely used online shopping platforms, making its performance a bellwether for consumer sentiment. It announced on Thursday that sales rose eight percent to 280 billion yuan (US$38.4 billion) in the three months through December, exceeding the 277 billion yuan estimated by a Bloomberg pool of analysts.

The news sent its share prices rocketing 14.6 percent in Hong Kong—building on a rally that has seen it bounce nearly 70 percent higher since the turn of the year, and is now at a three-year high.

Its New York-listed shares climbed more than eight percent. The Hang Seng Index finished up 3.99 percent, or 900.94 points, to 23,477.92. The Hang Seng tech index surged more than six percent, with other household names making big moves higher. Tencent added more than six percent, JD.com and XD Inc gained more than five percent, and Meituan jumped 3.8 percent. China’s tech sector has been on a roll this year.

It was given an extra boost since startup DeepSeek unveiled a chatbot that upended the global AI sector. Adding to the upbeat mood was news that Alibaba’s co-founder Jack Ma met Chinese President Xi Jinping as part of a gathering of the country’s top business leaders that indicated a softening towards the private sector after years of crackdowns. Ma’s inclusion hinted at the billionaire magnate’s potential public rehabilitation after years out of the spotlight following a tangle with regulators.

Xi told the leaders that challenges facing the country’s embattled private sector were “surmountable”.

He also said Beijing was focused on removing obstacles to commerce, promoting fair competition, cracking down on arbitrary fines and protecting business interests. Since taking the helm, Xi has strengthened the role of state enterprises in the world’s second-largest economy and waged crackdowns on areas of the private sector undergoing “disorderly” expansion.

The drive has hammered some of the country’s biggest names in recent years, sending their share prices plummeting. – AFP