Driven by both the "HALO" trading theme and the "Token Export" concept, the power sector is undergoing a reshaping of its investment logic and attracting sustained capital attention. As one of the efficient tools facilitating one-click investment in the power industry, the Power ETF (561560) has seen significantly increased trading activity recently. Over the past nine trading days, it has attracted a cumulative inflow of 365 million yuan. The fund's size and shares outstanding have risen to 1.341 billion yuan and 987 million shares respectively, both reaching new historical highs.
The rising market attention stems from a transformation in the investment rationale for the power sector. On one hand, "HALO" trading has gained significant traction. This investment logic focuses on sectors characterized by substantial physical capital, long investment cycles, high barriers to technological substitution, and inelastic demand. Such assets are difficult to replace by AI in the short term and are expected to benefit from incremental demand driven by AI development—for instance, the rising power demand resulting from the expansion of AI computing capacity.
On the other hand, the "Token Export" concept continues to gain momentum. Chinese large language model companies are providing inference services globally via APIs, achieving "computing power retained domestically, value flowing globally." Leveraging advantages in power and computing costs, China's weekly AI model token usage surged 127% over three weeks by February 2026, reaching 5.16 trillion tokens. This figure surpassed the United States for the first time, with Chinese companies occupying four of the top five spots globally, highlighting the international competitiveness of domestic computing infrastructure and the long-term support for power demand.
Huatai-PineBridge Fund's research department suggests that the power sector's performance may be promising going forward. Fundamentally, although 2026 is projected to see the largest decline in electricity prices, China's power supply and demand are expected to improve by 2027 as the peak in thermal power capacity installation concludes. Previously, market expectations pointed to a potential fundamental reversal for power stocks in 2027, but recent catalysts from the HALO trading theme might accelerate this timeline. Valuation-wise, driven by AI, the price-to-earnings (PE) ratio for traditional power equipment industries like transformers has already increased from 20x to 40x. The power sector's benefit from AI cycles lags slightly behind power equipment; currently, the power industry's valuation stands between 10-15x PE, with potential for recovery towards a 20x median.
Power assets possessing "HALO" characteristics are attracting capital for mid-to-low positioning. Compared to热门 sectors like grid equipment, the current valuation of the power industry may still be relatively low. As of March 5, 2026, the PE ratio of the CSI All Share Power Utilities Index, tracked by the Power ETF (561560), was 18.73x, residing in the lower 43% percentile of its 5-year valuation range. In contrast, the CSI Grid Equipment Theme Index had a PE ratio of 42.82x, at the 100th percentile of its 5-year range.
The Power ETF (561560) is reportedly the market's first ETF tracking the CSI All Share Power Utilities Index. The underlying index has a 100% weighting in the power and grid sectors, covering 57 constituent stocks across sub-sectors including thermal power, hydropower, wind power, nuclear power, solar power, and grid operations, with a high concentration of leading power stocks. Against the backdrop of heated "HALO" trading and AI computing expansion, this ETF provides investors with a tool for efficient exposure to the power sector and capturing industry growth benefits with a single investment.
The fund manager of the Power ETF (561560), Huatai-PineBridge Fund, is one of China's first ETF managers. For years, it has been committed to providing investors with index tool products characterized by transparent targeting, convenient trading, and low fees. Two of its major ETF products—the Huatai-PineBridge CSI 300 ETF (510300) and the Huatai-PineBridge CSI 500 ETF (563360)—are highly popular in the market, currently leading their respective ETF categories in size. Their management fee is 0.15% per annum and custodian fee is 0.05% per annum, among the lowest tiers for equity index funds in the current market.
A MACD golden cross signal has formed, indicating positive momentum for these stocks.