Chinese Chip, Optical Stocks Slide as CSI 300 Touches One-Year Low
The CSI 300 fell as much as 2.4% to a one-year low, while Chinese chip and optical-communications stocks dropped at least 5%.
China’s possible approval of Nvidia’s RTX Pro 5500 for domestic buyers sent Chinese chip and optical-communications stocks sharply lower Monday, while the CSI 300 touched a one-year low.
The CSI 300 fell as much as 2.4% during the session, with technology stocks leading the decline. Cambricon and GigaDevice, along with optical-communications companies Innolight and Eoptolink, each dropped at least 5%.
China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology asked some companies to report how many RTX Pro 5500 units they plan to purchase and how they would use them. The move signals that Beijing may approve purchases of the new professional graphics processor, including by major domestic technology companies.
The prospect of wider access to Nvidia hardware raised concerns that demand for Chinese-made artificial-intelligence chips could weaken. The RTX Pro 5500 is a high-end workstation GPU that Nvidia introduced this month.
The chip’s availability in China has not been confirmed by the Chinese government or Nvidia. Market attention now turns to whether officials formally approve the purchases, along with any limits on quantities or use.
