BlockBeats News, July 22: South Korean investors have recently bucked the trend by increasing their holdings of Chinese tech assets. Data shows that from July 13 to July 19, South Korean funds heavily bought Chinese A-share tech stocks, with the AI computing power leader Cambricon Technologies receiving a weekly net inflow of $2.8577 million, ranking first on the list of South Korean-funded A-share stock purchases.

According to data from SEIBro, the securities information portal under the Korea Securities Depository, during the same period, Chinese semiconductor core companies such as SMIC, Montage Technology, Hua Hong Semiconductor, and VeriSilicon also attracted million-dollar level net purchases from South Korean funds.

Looking at the past month (June 20 to July 20), Tongfu Microelectronics topped the list of South Korean-funded A-share purchases with a net inflow of $6.4571 million, while Cambricon Technologies received a cumulative net inflow of $3.1986 million. Companies like Cambricon Technologies and Horizon Robotics, as well as AI and semiconductor-related enterprises, also saw increased holdings.

Regarding Hong Kong stocks, South Korean investors concentrated on the Chinese tech industry through ETFs. In the past week, the Premia China Tech 50 ETF had a net inflow of $3.1729 million, while the Global X China Semiconductor ETF saw net purchases of over $3 million. Over the past month, the Global X China Semiconductor ETF has accumulated a net inflow of $15.9148 million.

Data shows that in the first half of 2026, South Korean investors accumulated a net inflow of $2.819 billion in Chinese assets through individual stocks and ETFs, with a net inflow of $678 million in A-shares, a year-on-year increase of 130.55%. Semiconductor equipment, AI servers, PCBs, and other AI industry chain segments have become the main areas of allocation.

In the Hong Kong market, SMIC was the most targeted stock by South Korean funds in the first half of the year, with a net inflow of $85.46 million, while the Chinese AI heavyweight MiniMax and Alibaba ranked second and third in terms of purchase amount.

South Korean funds are accelerating their flow into Chinese tech assets, mainly due to market turbulence in South Korea. In the first half of this year, the South Korean KOSPI index rose by over 100%, with leading AI storage stocks such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix experiencing significant increases. However, since July, the South Korean stock market has rapidly retraced, with the KOSPI index falling from its peak of 9,385 points to around 6,820 points, a retreat of over 27%. The stock prices of the two major chip giants have fallen by over 30% in the past month.

At the same time, international institutions have recently begun to pay more attention to the Chinese AI industry chain. In July, Goldman Sachs released a report recommending that investors reduce their holdings of South Korean AI-related assets and shift towards the Chinese AI value chain. The report believes that the Chinese AI industry has valuation upside potential driven by policy support, export growth, and domestic substitution.