Chinese shares hit one-year low as technology stocks slide

Chinese equities dropped to their lowest point in a year, with technology and semiconductor stocks bearing the brunt of a selloff driven by shifting US export policies and growing uncertainty about China’s domestic chip ambitions. The CSI 300 declined 2% on September 27, while major Chinese chip names took steeper hits. Cambricon fell 5.7% and SMIC dropped 3.6%, extending a painful stretch for a sector caught between geopolitical crossfire and investor skepticism about the viability of homegrown alternatives to Western silicon. What’s driving the selloff The immediate catalyst was a confluence of bad news for Chinese tech. Reports suggesting the US may ease restrictions on Nvidia’s advanced H200 chips created a counterintuitive problem for domestic chipmakers: if Chinese companies can access American chips again, even under restrictions, the investment case for less capable domestic alternatives weakens considerably. Adding to the pressure, OpenAI announced a pause on frontier model work, which sent ripples across Asian chip stocks broadly. The damage wasn’t limited to chipmakers. Optical module manufacturers Zhongji Innolight and Eoptolink saw their shares drop roughly 10% in Augu...