BEIJING, MAR 6 (V7N) — Alibaba's stock experienced a surge of over seven percent in Hong Kong trading on Thursday, fueled by the company's unveiling of a new artificial intelligence model, QwQ-32B, which it claims rivals the performance of DeepSeek, a recent standout in China's tech sector.

The announcement has invigorated investor confidence in China's AI capabilities, particularly following DeepSeek's successful launch of a cutting-edge chatbot earlier this year. Alibaba asserts that its QwQ-32B model achieves "comparable performance" to DeepSeek while requiring significantly less data to operate.

This development has contributed to a renewed sense of optimism surrounding China's tech industry. Adding to the positive sentiment, Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma's recent appearance alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping at a business symposium signaled a potential easing of regulatory pressures that had previously weighed on the sector.

Ma's public re-emergence is seen as a significant shift after his criticism of government regulations in 2020, which preceded a crackdown that significantly impacted China's tech giants.

DeepSeek's emergence has been welcomed by Chinese authorities, who are actively seeking to stimulate economic activity. Alibaba's QwQ-32B, along with Tencent's Yuanbao, is now positioned as a domestic competitor to DeepSeek.

Furthermore, Beijing's recent pledge to bolster consumer spending, which has been sluggish post-pandemic, has provided an additional boost to market confidence.

Alibaba, a major player in China's e-commerce landscape, has also committed to investing over $50 billion in AI and cloud computing over the next three years, underscoring its commitment to these key technological areas.

END/BUS/RH/