Alibaba Group Holding Ltd shares tumbled in US trading on Monday as President Donald Trump’s latest executive order stirred fears about deepening trade tensions between the US and China.CompanyValueChange%ChangeAlibaba’s American depositary receipts closed down 10%, the biggest decline since Oct. 2022. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index fell 5.2% with Bilibili Inc. and Kingsoft Cloud Holdings also among stocks that dropped 10% or more.The selloff marks a sharp reversal after a run up in Alibaba and other China technology stocks in recent weeks amid optimism about artificial intelligence in the wake of DeepSeek. Alibaba had gained about 70% this year through Friday’s close, while the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index rose 18%.
Over the weekend, Trump directed the committee on Foreign Investment in the US to limit Chinese spending on technology and other strategic US sectors. Meanwhile, Alibaba pledged to invest more than 380 billion yuan ($53 billion) on AI infrastructure over the next three years. The plan would make Alibaba one of China’s biggest AI infrastructure spenders.“A contest is seemingly underway between Trump and Beijing over who has a bigger say over Chinese equity performance,” Evercore strategists including Neo Wang wrote in a research note.The Evercore strategists pointed to an upcoming meeting of China’s National People’s Congress on March 5 for the next potential catalyst.“Now, it is Beijing’s turn,” they wrote.First Published: Feb 25, 2025 5:22 AM IST
