Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), China's largest chipmaker, saw its stock price soar 6.94% in intraday trading, reflecting a broader rally in the chip sector. The surge comes amid growing optimism surrounding China's push for technological self-reliance in the semiconductor industry, particularly in AI chip development.

The rally in SMIC's stock is part of a larger trend in the Hong Kong-listed chip sector. Other notable gainers include Hua Hong Semiconductor, which rose by nearly 10%, and Solomon Systech, which advanced over 6%. This sector-wide movement is fueled by recent reports of major Chinese tech companies, such as Alibaba and Baidu, developing and utilizing their own AI chips for training large language models.

Investors are particularly encouraged by news of Alibaba's latest AI-focused PPU chip, developed by its Pingtouge unit. The chip's performance reportedly surpasses that of NVIDIA's A800 and is comparable to the H20, signaling China's progress in high-performance computing. This development, along with the Ministry of Commerce's anti-dumping investigation into US-made analog chips, underscores China's efforts to reduce dependence on Western semiconductor technologies and boost its domestic chip industry.