从撤离美债到押注东方科技创新：全球投资巨擘欲加码中国科技

According to the latest "Global Sovereign Asset Management Study" released by Invesco Ltd., a major American asset management giant, the interest of global sovereign asset management institutions in allocating to Chinese assets has significantly rebounded. The vast majority of funds expect to increase their investments, leveraging the asset growth driven by Chinese technology to seize historic technological transformation opportunities. The Invesco survey shows that since the emergence of DeepSeek and Alibaba's launch of a low-cost, high-performance open-source AI model that shocked Silicon Valley and Wall Street, sovereign wealth funds managing approximately $27 trillion in assets are increasingly optimistic about China's technology sector, as they do not want to miss the next wave of super innovation.

Among the global sovereign asset management institutions surveyed, the proportion that views China, the world's second-largest economy, as a "high priority" or "medium priority" over the next five years has jumped from 44% last year to 59% this year, with most institutions preferring to enter the Chinese market through the "stock market."

This Invesco study covers 83 large sovereign wealth funds and 58 central banks, managing a total of approximately $27 trillion in assets. The survey indicates that sovereign investment institutions are formulating their investment strategies for the Chinese market around specific technology ecosystems, including semiconductors, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, and renewable energy infrastructure.

"Institutional investors, including large sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, are increasingly convinced that China holds an innovative leading position in major global technology fields such as artificial intelligence, nuclear fusion, and quantum computing, and they do not want to miss the opportunity," said Martin Franc, CEO of Invesco Asia Pacific (excluding Japan).

The rising investment interest from the world's largest sovereign wealth funds and central banks indicates a significant change in the market narrative surrounding Chinese assets this year. Although investors still have concerns about the global economic outlook and potential trade conflicts between China and the United States, the AI technology breakthroughs led by Chinese AI startup DeepSeek earlier this year have completely ignited global optimism for Chinese tech stocks, continuously driving up the stock prices of Chinese technology companies.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, a trend measure for Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong, has risen by about 20% so far this year.

This optimistic sentiment driven by the "AI application wave" brought about by DeepSeek has spread to other technology-oriented industries such as humanoid robots, biotechnology, advanced manufacturing, and electric vehicles.

The Invesco survey shows that about 78% of the global sovereign asset management institutions surveyed expect China's technology and innovation-driven industries to rank among the world's top competitive sectors.

It is understood that most of the traditional asset management institutions surveyed expect to increase their allocation to Chinese assets over the next five years, including 88% of Asian funds and 73% of North American fund management institutions. The most favored areas include digital technology and AI application software, advanced manufacturing and automation, and clean energy and green technology Worried about missing the "next Silicon Valley"! Sovereign wealth may surge to China

"Sovereign wealth investors managing $27 trillion in assets are increasingly optimistic about China's technology sector, as they do not want to miss the next wave of innovation." This is the conclusion drawn from the annual survey conducted by Invesco Asset Management.

In a survey of 83 sovereign wealth funds and 58 central banks conducted for the first quarter of 2025, 59% of respondents indicated that they view China as a high or medium priority allocation target over the next five years, significantly up from 44% last year.

"There is a bullish investment sentiment driven by a 'fear of missing out' (FOMO), and the trend of China's technological prosperity is akin to the next Silicon Valley," said Rod Ringrow, head of the official institutions department at Invesco. "Sovereign assets generally believe that Chinese tech companies will be globally competitive in the future, and they want to ensure they are involved now."

The survey indicated that attractive local investment returns are the primary driver for future capital inflows, reflecting investment institutions' confidence in the valuation and profit potential of the sector compared to other developed markets like the U.S. This shift is particularly notable amid escalating tensions in U.S.-China relations.

Invesco's survey also revealed that this trend comes at the expense of reducing allocations to long-term U.S. Treasury assets, primarily due to institutions' heightened concerns about the sustainability of U.S. fiscal policy and volatility following the passage of the "Big and Beautiful" legislation. Sovereign asset managers are also reassessing passive index strategies, particularly re-evaluating those focused on U.S. equity ETF exposure.

Additionally, the report noted that global central banks are building larger and more diversified reserves to hedge against market volatility risks. The U.S. dollar remains dominant, but the role of gold and sovereign currencies like the renminbi as defensive assets is increasing.

"Central banks continue to buy gold, a significant portion of which is driven by concerns over U.S. financial sanctions," Ringrow stated. "Gold is a core component of reserves, not only for its inflation-hedging properties but also because it is not easily confiscated or isolated by other institutions."

Ringrow indicated that market surveys show that several U.S. asset management firms optimistic about China are targeting technology sectors where China is expected to achieve global leadership, supported by strong market momentum and strategic policy backing.

This means that sovereign investment institutions and traditional asset management giants are formulating their investment strategies in the Chinese market around specific technology ecosystems, rather than relying on broad macro exposure. The report highlighted that these ecosystems include semiconductors, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, and renewable energy infrastructure.

Invesco quoted a leader from a sovereign wealth fund in the Middle East stating that China will dominate the solar, wind, electric vehicle, and battery markets in the coming decades. An investment strategy leader from an institution in the Asia-Pacific region remarked that given the actual resources and policy support invested by Chinese authorities, it is only a matter of time before China surpasses the U.S. in cutting-edge technology fields such as semiconductors, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence "The Ten Giants" Lead a New Wave of Investment in China

Goldman Sachs recently released a significant research report, introducing the concept of the "Chinese Prominent 10" for the first time, directly comparing ten private enterprise giants such as Tencent, Alibaba, and Xiaomi to the "Magnificent 7" led by Nvidia, Microsoft, and Google in the U.S. stock market. The aim is to identify core assets in the Chinese stock market with long-term dominance potential and to bet that these Chinese tech giants will be the core force driving a long-term bull market in the Chinese stock market, similar to how the "Magnificent 7," which has a high weight in the S&P 500 index since 2023, has led the index to a historic bull market.

Even with the trade war directly targeting China initiated by Trump, the benchmark index of its stock market has significantly outperformed the U.S. stock market this year. Moreover, the expected price-to-earnings ratio and price-to-sales ratio, after a substantial rise, still appear to be greatly undervalued compared to the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq 100 index. Goldman Sachs' research indicates that even after a significant increase, the average valuation of the "Chinese Prominent 10" at approximately 13.9x the 12-month expected price-to-earnings ratio has only a 22% valuation premium over the MSCI China index, far below the historical average and significantly lower than the 43% valuation premium level of the Magnificent 7.

The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index has risen 20% year-to-date, while the Hang Seng Tech Index, heavily weighted by Alibaba and Tencent, has increased 18% so far this year (with the highest increase exceeding 30% at one point), both significantly outperforming the S&P 500 index. The Chinese internet ETF Krane CSI China Internet (KWEB), which is traded on the U.S. stock market, has risen over 15% this year, greatly outperforming the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq 100 index.

The "Chinese Prominent 10" selected by Goldman Sachs includes: Tencent, Alibaba, Xiaomi, BYD, Meituan, NetEase, Midea, Heng Rui Pharmaceutical, Trip.com, and Anta. These companies cover multiple sub-industries, including interactive media, retail, technology hardware, automotive, catering, entertainment, consumer durables, pharmaceuticals, hotels, and textiles. They collectively account for 42% of the MSCI China index's weight, with an average daily trading volume of $11 billion, demonstrating extremely high market influence and investment attractiveness. Thematically, the "Chinese Prominent 10" represents five major investment trends: artificial intelligence/technology development, self-sufficiency, globalization, service consumption, and improvement of returns for Chinese shareholders.

For a long time, the investment community has almost unanimously believed that American tech giants like Microsoft, Google, and Nvidia are still the highest quality companies globally, possessing market dominance, astonishing profitability, and ample cash reserves. However, the current question is whether these advantages have already been reflected in the current stock prices. Furthermore, the current valuations are much higher compared to the historic crash period of 2022, especially as the U.S. economy becomes increasingly sluggish due to tariff policies, corporate investments in artificial intelligence may not meet expectations, and the Chinese tech giants with more advantageous valuations and strong profit potential have risen strongly this year, raising the question of whether these advantages are facing threats The unprecedented investment boom in artificial intelligence in China led by DeepSeek has continuously boosted Chinese tech stocks. Major Chinese tech companies, such as Alibaba and Tencent, possess the capability to develop disruptive application-level tech products that cover a population of 1.4 billion, and both enterprise and consumer acceptance of new AI technologies is steadily increasing.

For the Chinese stock market—namely the Hong Kong and A-share markets—the epoch-making "ultra-low-cost AI large model" launched by DeepSeek is driving large models to deeply penetrate various industries in China. Additionally, Alibaba's strong performance and the ambitious "super blueprint for artificial intelligence" it has showcased have become an unprecedented "bull market catalyst" for global investors to reassess Chinese assets, especially as these investors have grown increasingly concerned about the soaring valuations of U.S. tech stocks.

With the comprehensive rise of the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, which leads a new "AI large model computing paradigm" centered on "ultra-low cost" and high efficiency comparable to OpenAI, DeepSeek is beginning to deeply integrate with various industries such as healthcare, finance, and education, as well as consumer electronics and other application terminals, bringing forth innovative AI products/services. This is expected to drive new growth paradigms in sales and operating profits across China's semiconductor, SaaS software, cloud computing, and all industries, ultimately fueling global investors' bullish sentiment towards the Chinese stock market, particularly tech stocks.

Many foreign institutions believe that a significant amount of capital flowing out of the U.S. market may soon pour into the Chinese market, which has clear valuation and fundamental advantages. The frenzy ignited by DeepSeek in Chinese tech stocks is leading the Chinese stock market (including Hong Kong and A-shares) to outperform globally. Coupled with the rising expectations for consumption-boosting policies, the Chinese stock market, with valuations far lower than those of U.S. stocks, is highly attractive to the massive capital fleeing from the U.S