China AI Stocks Today (Dec. 15, 2025): A‑Shares and Hong Kong Tech Slide as CPO & AI Chips Cool

Shanghai/Hong Kong — Dec. 15, 2025 — China’s AI-linked stocks started the week on the back foot, with A‑share “computing power” (算力) hardware names and Hong Kong tech leaders retreating amid a risk-off mood across Asia. Traders pointed to a combination of global “AI capex trade” jitters, softer China macro signals, and year‑end liquidity that amplified moves—especially in the high‑beta AI supply chain. ^[1]

Still, Monday’s tape also showed something important for anyone following China AI stocks: the pullback was selective, with pockets of robotics and AI applications holding up, and several research desks arguing that the 2026 AI buildout story remains intact—but may become more demanding on fundamentals and execution. ^[2]

What happened in China’s stock market today

Mainland equities closed lower, with tech-heavy segments leading the decline:

Shanghai Composite fell 0.55% to 3,867.92
Shenzhen Component fell 1.1% to 13,112.09
ChiNext slid 1.77% to 3,137.8
STAR Market’s Sci‑Tech Innovation 50 (科创50) dropped 2.22% to 1,318.91 ^[3]

Turnover cooled meaningfully: combined Shanghai/Shenzhen trading value was about CNY 1.77 trillion, down roughly CNY 318.9 billion from the prior session—often a sign that traders were de‑risking rather than chasing dips aggressively. ^[4]

Sector rotation was clear. Consumer-facing themes and financials held up better, while the AI complex—particularly optics (CPO), semiconductors, and “computing power” hardware—was pressured. ^[5]

Mainland AI stocks: “computing power” hardware and CPO led the pullback

If you track China’s AI market through the lens of data-center buildout beneficiaries—optical modules, co‑packaged optics (CPO), AI servers, storage, and related connectivity—Dec. 15 looked like a classic “hot theme cools off” session.

Multiple China-market close reports highlighted:

CPO, storage, and semiconductor-linked directions as key laggards ^[6]
AI wearables and related AI consumer-electronics themes also weak ^[7]

A Securities Times concept-board snapshot underscored the breadth of the AI-themed dip, listing (among the day’s weaker concepts):

AI phones: -2.55%
Optical fiber concept: -2.22%
Co‑packaged optics (CPO): -2.21%
AI glasses: -1.85%
AI PC: -1.82%
“Sora concept” (text-to-video): -1.78% ^[8]

ETFs and bellwethers showed the same message: hardware down, dispersion up

A widely circulated market note on optical components said that, by mid‑afternoon:

5G Communications ETF (515050) was down 2.59%
ChiNext AI ETF (159381) was down 1.91%
Cloud Computing 50 ETF (516630) was down 1.43% ^[9]

The same report flagged several previously active hardware names among the notable decliners (examples cited included Changxin Botong, Taichen Optoelectronics, and Guangku Technology). ^[10]

Near-term market “forecast” from the tape: consolidation risk for AI hardware

One of the more explicit short-term calls came from a China market daily wrap, which argued that “computing power hardware” expectations had already been largely priced in, and that without enough incremental capital to take the baton, the group may see a period of choppy consolidation—making timing/pace critical. ^[11]

That’s a key nuance for China AI investors: the market may still like the strategic direction (domestic AI infrastructure, data centers, storage, chips), but it is increasingly unwilling to pay “any price” without fresh catalysts and visible orders.

Hong Kong: Hang Seng Tech dropped 2.48% as Baidu, Alibaba, SenseTime slid

Hong Kong’s tech complex—home to many of the most visible “China AI stocks” for global investors—also fell sharply.

At the close:

Hang Seng Index:-1.34%
Hang Seng TECH Index:-2.48%
Hang Seng China Enterprises Index:-1.78% ^[12]

Major platform and AI-linked names were broadly lower. One market snapshot listed the following moves among key tech constituents:

Baidu:-5.79%
Kuaishou:-4.45%
SenseTime:-3.62%
Alibaba:-3.57%
Xiaomi:-2.61%
Tencent:-2.11%
JD.com:-1.82%
Meituan:-1.46% ^[13]

The “AI supply chain” in Hong Kong was hit too: optics and chips

Hong Kong‑listed AI supply‑chain names also took damage. A Hong Kong close report highlighted optical communications as a notable drag, with examples including:

Changfei Optical Fibre and Cable (6869.HK): -10.61%
Cambridge Technology (6166.HK): -5.05%
JPCOM (2321.HK): -4.49% ^[14]

Semiconductor names were weak as well in the same report (examples included Innoscience, Hua Hong Semiconductor, and SMIC). ^[15]

Why China AI stocks fell today: global “AI capex trade” nerves met weak China data

1) Global spillover from U.S. tech and “AI buildout” anxiety

A Reuters global markets wrap captured the day’s mood: the risk-off tone in Asia looked like spillover from the prior U.S. selloff in momentum/tech, tied to an unwind in the AI-capex trade, made sharper by thin year-end liquidity. ^[16]

Macro desks also flagged that investors are increasingly debating whether the AI buildout is boosting margins or squeezing them, as big capex plans collide with profitability questions—an angle echoed in a Saxo Bank market note that pointed to pressure after Broadcom’s margin commentary and ongoing concerns about data-center timing and spending. ^[17]

In Hong Kong, that sensitivity showed up immediately: one market report tied local AI concept weakness to the global chain reaction from last week’s U.S. tech volatility and AI profitability fears. ^[18]

2) China macro and property stress added a second headwind

China’s own data flow did not help sentiment. Reuters noted that factory output and retail sales slowed further in November, and that new home prices continued to decline, reinforcing concerns that the property sector’s recovery remains elusive. ^[19]

The same Reuters report highlighted renewed attention on China Vanke’s bond situation, which fed broader risk awareness around property and credit. ^[20]

Hong Kong commentary likewise referenced weaker-than-expected China data as part of the reason the market struggled to find a bid when tech started sliding. ^[21]

The counter‑narrative: not all China AI news was bearish today

Even as AI equities fell, Dec. 15 also delivered fresh, sector-specific news and research that bulls will point to for the next leg.

Robotics and “embodied intelligence” stayed in the conversation

A mainland report tied to a major AI-themed ETF highlighted a strategic cooperation in humanoid robotics: Texas Instruments reportedly reached a partnership with UBTECH and began deploying UBTECH’s industrial humanoid robot Walker S2 in production-line scenarios, with further collaboration expected around components and applications. ^[22]

The same piece quoted an institutional view that embodied intelligent robots are a key carrier for AI’s integration with the physical world, with progress depending on breakthroughs and cost optimization in “brain” (cognition/decision models) and “cerebellum” (motion control) technologies. ^[23]

Energy constraints are becoming an AI investment theme—even in China

Another China-market note spotlighted a different angle that increasingly matters for AI stocks globally: power. It reported that Nvidia planned a data-center power shortage summit, framing energy supply as a real-world bottleneck that can shape the speed and economics of AI infrastructure expansion. ^[24]

For China investors, the implication is practical: the winners of the next AI cycle may include not only chipmakers and cloud platforms, but also power infrastructure, grid upgrades, and efficiency technologies that make data-center expansion feasible.

Forecasts and analyst outlooks published today: what to watch into 2026

Despite the down session, several forward-looking takes published or circulated on Dec. 15 leaned constructive on medium-term China AI capex—while acknowledging near-term volatility.

Huachuang Securities: 2026 could bring faster multimodal adoption and bigger compute/storage demand

A widely shared market brief cited Huachuang Securities forecasting that, relative to 2025:

Multimodal applications may accelerate, lifting demand across compute / transport / storage (算力/运力/存力) as newer multimodal models arrive
Domestic (China-made) compute demand remains strong, supporting faster “self-reliance” (自主可控) progress in AI compute chips ^[25]

This is one of the more important “bridge” arguments for China AI stocks right now: even if the global market debates “AI bubble” dynamics, China’s internal logic is also about supply-chain localization and capacity buildout.

Short-term view: AI hardware may need time to digest gains

At the same time, a mainland market wrap was blunt about the near-term: after a strong rebound phase, hardware names may be at relatively elevated levels, and without new incremental flows, the group can remain rangebound and prone to pullbacks. ^[26]

Macro calendar: policy and data could drive the next rotation

A Saxo Bank market note pointed to fresh China data and major central-bank meetings as key watchpoints this week—conditions that often influence whether investors rotate back into growth themes like AI or keep favoring defensives and consumption. ^[27]

China AI stocks watchlist: the names investors focused on today

This is not a recommendation—just a practical list of China-listed AI bellwethers that were explicitly referenced in today’s market coverage.

Hong Kong / offshore “China AI” bellwethers

Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, SenseTime, Kuaishou (all down on the day in cited market wraps) ^[28]

AI infrastructure and connectivity (A‑shares + H‑shares)

Optical and connectivity chain (CPO/optical fiber) was a key drag in both mainland and Hong Kong coverage ^[29]
Semiconductor pressure was repeatedly flagged in market wraps ^[30]

Robotics and AI applications (selective resilience)

UBTECH–Texas Instruments humanoid robotics partnership surfaced as a headline tied to the robotics/embodied intelligence theme ^[31]

Bottom line for Dec. 15: a “risk-off” day, not necessarily an “AI is over” day

China AI stocks were hit Monday by a familiar cocktail: global tech jitters, macro uncertainty, and profit-taking in the most crowded AI hardware trades. Mainland benchmarks fell, Hong Kong tech slid harder, and optics/CPO and chip plays led the retreat. ^[32]

But alongside the selloff, Dec. 15 also delivered fresh forward-looking research pointing to 2026 catalysts—especially around multimodal adoption, rising demand for compute/storage, and continued push for domestic AI supply chains—plus ongoing innovation headlines in robotics and data-center infrastructure constraints. ^[33]

For investors tracking AI stocks in the China stock market, the takeaway is that the market is asking tougher questions about timing, margins, and incremental demand—and that the next move may depend less on “AI narrative” and more on orders, capex visibility, and policy-backed execution in 2026. ^[34]

References

China AI Stocks Today (Dec. 15, 2025): A‑Shares and Hong Kong Tech Slide as CPO & AI Chips Cool—What Analysts Forecast Next