South Korean investors have recently moved against the broader market mood and added to Chinese technology assets, according to BlockBeats.
Data showed that between July 13 and July 19, South Korean funds bought Chinese A-share technology stocks in size. Cambricon, a company described in the report as an AI computing leader, ranked first among A-share names by weekly net purchases from South Korean investors, at $2.8577 million.
According to SEIBro, the securities information portal operated by the Korea Securities Depository, other core Chinese semiconductor companies also attracted net buying at the million-dollar level during the same period, including Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC), Montage Technology, Hua Hong and Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc. China.
A-share buying stayed active over the past month
Looking at the period from June 20 to July 20, Dongshan Precision ranked first among A-shares bought by South Korean investors, with net purchases of $6.4571 million. Cambricon posted cumulative net buying of $3.1986 million. Sugon and Leon Micro, both tied to AI and semiconductor themes, also saw increased holdings.
ETF products led Hong Kong market positioning
In Hong Kong-related allocation, South Korean investors concentrated their positioning in China’s technology supply chain through ETFs.
Over the past week, Premia China STAR50 ETF recorded net purchases of $3.1729 million, while Global X China Semiconductor ETF saw more than $3 million in net buying. Over the past month, cumulative net purchases into Global X China Semiconductor ETF reached $15.9148 million.
First-half net purchases reached $2.819 billion
Data showed that in the first half of 2026, South Korean investors made cumulative net purchases of $2.819 billion in Chinese assets through individual stocks and ETF channels. Of that total, A-shares accounted for $678 million, up 130.55% year over year.
Semiconductor equipment, AI servers and PCB segments in the AI supply chain were the main allocation targets. In the Hong Kong stock market, SMIC became the most heavily bought target by South Korean investors in the first half, with net purchases of $85.46 million. Chinese large-model AI company MiniMax and Alibaba ranked second and third by purchase amount.
Korean market volatility coincided with the shift
The report said the faster flow of South Korean capital into Chinese technology assets was mainly influenced by volatility in the Korean market.
In the first half of this year, South Korea’s KOSPI index at one point rose by more than 100%, while AI memory leaders Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix posted strong gains. Since July, however, the Korean stock market has corrected quickly. The KOSPI fell from a record high of 9,385 points to around 6,820, a pullback of more than 27%, and the two chip giants each dropped by more than 30% over the past month.
At the same time, international institutions have also begun to pay closer attention to China’s AI supply chain. Goldman Sachs said in a July report that investors should reduce holdings in South Korean AI-related assets and shift toward China’s AI value chain. The bank said China’s AI industry has room for valuation recovery under policy support, export growth and domestic substitution.