China stocks hit decade high as AI, commercial space shares surge

China stocks climbed to a decade-high on Monday, led by artificial intelligence and commercial space shares as investors cheered a strong start to the year for onshore markets. Hong Kong shares also advanced.

China's blue-chip CSI300 Index .CSI300 climbed 0.4% by the lunch break, while the Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC gained 0.8%, hitting its highest level since July 2015 after last week's 3.8% surge — its best weekly performance in 14 months.

Hong Kong benchmark Hang Seng .HSI was up 0.9%.

Shares in China's commercial space sector extended gains, with China Spaces at 600118.SS hitting the 10% daily limit to a record high. The rally followed an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) filing showing that China applied, between December 25 and December 31, 2025, for frequency and orbital resources for 203,000 satellites across 14 constellations.

China's CSI Cloud Computing and Big Data Index .CSI930851 was up 6.8%, while the AI shares .CSI930713 jumped nearly 4%. Tech majors traded in Hong Kong .HSTECH were up 2.1%.

China can narrow its technological gap with the U.S. driven by growing risk-taking and innovation, though the lack of advanced chipmaking tools is hobbling the sector, the country's leading AI researchers said on Saturday.

The CSI Rare Earth Index .CSI930598 rose 3% after a senior U.S. official said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will urge Group of Seven nations and others to step up their efforts to reduce reliance on critical minerals from China when he hosts a dozen top finance officials on Monday.

The CSI Defence Index .CSI399973 rose 5% to near its four-year high.

Auto shares traded onshore and offshore were roughly flat as China's car sales are expected to be flat this year, extending a downtrend, a Chinese industry association said.

-Shanghai Newsroom/Reuters