Alibaba leaps 10% as US-listed Chinese stocks rally on further speculation Beijing is set to reopen its economy after strict lockdown measures
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- Alibaba and other US-listed Chinese stocks jumped Friday after reports sparked further speculation China is moving toward reopening its economy.
- A former top disease control official in China said the country will make "substantial" changes to its zero-COVID policy in the coming months, Reuters reported.
- Nio and China-related ETFs were among the gainers in Friday's rally.
Alibaba and other US-listed Chinese stocks pushed sharply higher Friday following separate reports that fueled further speculation that China is taking steps toward reopening its COVID-hit economy.
Alibaba shares gained as much as 10% in premarket trade to $72 and electric vehicle makers Nio and XPeng climbed 7% and 17%, respectively, on the New York Stock Exchange. E-commerce giant JD.com and search engine company Baidu each picked up 8%.
Among exchange-traded funds, the iShares MSCI China ETF gained 6% and the KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF bulked up by 7.5%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index leapt by 5.4%. The Shanghai Composite moved up 2.4%.
Earlier Friday, Reuters reported that a former top disease control official in China said the country will make substantial changes to its "dynamic-zero" COVID-19 policy in the coming months. The strategy in part calls for the lockdown of businesses and residential activity to curb COVID outbreaks.
Zeng Guang, former chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said conditions for China to reopen were "accumulating," with new vaccines among them. Zeng was speaking at a conference hosted by Citi on Friday, Reuters reported.
Separately, Bloomberg reported that China is preparing to stop COVID-related flight suspensions. Authorities are working on plans to end a system that penalizes airlines for bringing coronavirus cases into the country, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Alibaba and other Chinese stocks that trade in the US were on course to score weekly wins. Earlier this week, a rally was ignited after an unverified social-media post said China's ruling Communist Party was considering the creation of a "reopening committee" to examine how to end the zero-Covid strategy.
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