Shares of Baidu Group-SW (09888) surged more than 8% before noon. As of the time of writing, the stock was up 8.28% to HK$136, with a trading volume of HK$1.013 billion.

On the news front, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) website showed on May 7 that Kunlunxin, Baidu's AI chip unit, has officially commenced its listing tutoring process for the Shanghai Stock Exchange's Sci-Tech Innovation Board (STAR Market). As early as the beginning of this January, Kunlunxin had already submitted a confidential listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange through joint sponsors.

J.P. Morgan previously assigned Kunlunxin an independent valuation of USD 40-49 billion. Haitong International Securities noted that, based on comparisons with industry peers, Kunlunxin could contribute approximately USD 48.7 billion in market value to Baidu.