China's government-directed investment vehicles entered the market with the most aggressive purchasing activity seen since the selloff of April 2025, as officials intensified measures to halt a sharp market decline.
Nine exchange-traded funds that are widely recognized as being actively traded by state-backed buyers attracted 128.7 billion yuan, equivalent to approximately $19 billion, during the previous week, based on data assembled by Bloomberg. This represents the largest weekly influx since the roughly 140 billion yuan recorded in April 2025, a period when President Donald Trump's trade conflict shook global markets and Chinese authorities rolled out a series of measures to restore investor confidence.
Analysts and investors had previously cautioned that this kind of intervention would not be enough to break the downward momentum, yet evidence is now appearing that the purchases are contributing to a moderation in the selloff. Chinese equities reversed course and moved into positive territory late on Friday as trading volume in a group of ETFs favored by state-backed funds accelerated.
The ChiNext Index surged 4.2% on Friday, ending a losing run that had lasted nine consecutive sessions. The technology-focused benchmark recovered from an early decline of as much as 3.1% on Monday and was trading 1.7% lower by the mid-day break.