China Internet: Cheap is acknowledged; urgency still needs proof

Research evidence excerpt

China Internet: Cheap is acknowledged; urgency still needs proof

Asia Pacific Equity Research

02 July 2026

China Internet

Cheap is acknowledged; urgency still needs proof

Based on our one-week long marketing meetings with US-based investors, we Head of China Equity Research

believe US investors remain engaged on China Internet, but the trip did not and Co-Head of Asia TMT

suggest a broad rotation back into the sector. The consistent message from Research

meetings was that valuation is no longer the central debate. Most investors Alex Yao AC

accept that the large-cap platforms are inexpensive. What they do not yet (86 21) 6106 6505

accept is that cheapness alone is enough to compete for capital against AI alex.yao@jpmorgan.com

hardware, memory, semis, and private or newly listed AI assets where near- SAC Registration Number: S1730523020001

term earnings revisions or scarcity narratives remain cleaner. Daniel Chen

(86-21) 6106 6205

• That leaves the sector in a selective, proof-driven regime, in our view. daniel.q.chen@jpmorgan.com

SAC Registration Number: S1730521040001

Potential marginal buyers are not asking whether China Internet can screen

Olivia Xu

cheap. They are asking where the next observable catalyst is strong enough (86-21) 6106 6138

to change behavior. On this trip, the most actionable debates were Alibaba olivia.w.xu@jpmorgan.com

cloud margin, Tencent AI disclosure, Baidu’s Kunlunxin and capital return SAC Registration Number: S1730525060001

path, Zhipu relative to MiniMax, and Kuaishou’s value capture from Kling. Nancy Liu

(86 21) 6106 6343

• Our takeaway is not to press broad sector beta. We would focus marketing nancy.liu@jpmorgan.com

and positioning around names where a dated catalyst or measurable proof SAC Registration Number: S1730524090001