As the U.S. stock market has shown a sluggish trend this year, asset management companies' interest is shifting toward the Chinese market. Especially at the beginning of this year, with the emergence of DeepSeek, attention to Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) has increased, prompting many firms to prepare exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that focus on Chinese technology stocks.
According to the financial investment industry on the 26th, Mirae Asset Global Investments has completed the review process for the 'TIGER China Tech TOP 10' ETF by the Korea Exchange and plans to list it on the 13th of next month. This will be the first time Mirae Asset has launched a China investment ETF in two years since the introduction of the 'TIGER China Electric Vehicle Leveraged' ETF in May 2023.
On the same day, Hanwha Asset Management is preparing to launch 'PLUS China AI Tech TOP 10' with a listing target, while Timefolio Asset Management plans to list its active product 'TIMEFOLIO China AI Tech Active' ETF next month.
These ETFs have structured their portfolios around the 'Terrific 10 (T10)', which includes 10 representative Chinese technology stocks such as BYD, Alibaba, and Tencent.
Products that focus solely on humanoid robot-related stocks are also emerging. Samsung Asset Management will list 'KODEX China Humanoid Robot' on the 13th of next month, and Mirae Asset plans to launch 'TIGER China Humanoid' ETF at the end of the same month. Hanwha Asset Management is also reviewing the launch of related products.
As large technology stocks in the U.S., including Nvidia and Apple, have stagnated, interest in China's Terrific 10 has increased, leading to a competitive release of new products.
In fact, individual investors have net purchased 10 major China technology stock investment ETFs, including 'TIGER China Hang Seng Tech' and 'KODEX China AI Tech Active,' for a total of 49 billion won over the past month (from March 25 to April 25). Although the prices of these ETFs declined by 4% to 28% during the same period due to the impact of U.S.-China trade conflicts, investors deemed it a low point and began investing.
Concerns remain that the U.S. tariff rate on China has reached 145%, indicating significant risk; however, on the 24th (local time), U.S. President Donald Trump noted, 'We are meeting with China,' suggesting the possibility of tariff negotiations. On the 25th, China reportedly withdrew retaliatory tariffs on some U.S.-made semiconductor products.
An analysis suggests that China's exports to the U.S., which are centered on the domestic market, account for only 2.8% of its gross domestic product (GDP), implying that the impact will not be significant.
A representative from an asset management company said, 'Unlike the U.S., China has its own value chain based on Southeast Asia for goods such as AI,' and added, 'Even with technology stocks like in the U.S., we should view market trends separately.' However, they emphasized that 'related companies have surged since the beginning of this year with DeepSeek as a turning point, leading to great growth expectations.'