Hong Kong hard-tech shares mounted a strong counteroffensive on Wednesday, with the benchmark index of the Huabao Stock Connect Information Technology ETF (159131) climbing as much as 3% intraday to reclaim its 60-day moving average before settling 0.9% higher.

Among the fund's top ten heavyweight holdings, Lenovo Group (HK: 0992) surged over 5%, while SenseTime-W (HK: 0020) advanced more than 4% and Xiaomi Corporation-W (HK: 1810) added over 3%.

On the news front, OpenAI officially unveiled GPT-6 Astra in the early hours of Wednesday Beijing time, hailing it as "the most intelligent and best-aligned model in the world today." The new system reportedly achieves state-of-the-art performance in computer operations, web browsing, software engineering, cybersecurity, scientific research, and professional workflows. OpenAI President Greg Brockman declared, "Welcome to the AGI era."

China Merchants Securities notes that Nvidia's latest earnings report continues to validate robust demand for AI infrastructure, with revenue, profits, data center operations, and next-quarter guidance all significantly beating market expectations. Meanwhile, leading domestic large-model developers have been updating their core offerings in a concentrated window: Zhipu released GLM-5.3-Flash, Alibaba launched Qwen3.8-Flash-Next, and Tencent introduced Hy4 preview. The competitive landscape for large models is increasingly emphasizing the balance between performance, inference efficiency, and real-world application value. The importance of pure parameter scale expansion is diminishing, with high-tier model capabilities accelerating their migration into lower-cost segments. Low activation parameters, sparse architectures, and more efficient inference mechanisms have become the shared industry direction.

The Hong Kong Stock Connect Information Technology ETF (159131) offers a rare "pure-blooded" exposure to hard tech in Hong Kong, supporting T+0 trading. The fund tracks the CSI Hong Kong Stock Connect Information Technology Index, which comprises roughly "80% hardware + 20% software," with heavy allocations to Hong Kong-listed semiconductor, electronics, and computer software names. The index covers 67 hard-tech companies, including foundry duopoly Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) and Hua Hong Semiconductor, domestic AI PC leader Lenovo Group, and national model development duo Zhipu and Minimax.

Notably, the index excludes large-cap internet giants such as Alibaba, Tencent, and Meituan, allowing investors to more precisely capture Hong Kong's AI hard-tech momentum. For investors without a securities account, the off-market feeder fund (026755) provides an alternative one-click entry point into Hong Kong hard tech.

The Huabao Hong Kong Stock Connect Information Technology ETF carries an R4 risk rating (medium-high risk) per the fund manager's assessment, making it suitable for aggressive (C4 and above) investors. Investors are advised to confirm suitability recommendations with their sales institutions. Given that recent market volatility may be significant, short-term gains or losses do not predict future performance, and fund investments carry potential losses. Investors should base decisions on their own capital positions and risk tolerance, paying close attention to position sizing and risk management.

Data sources: CSI Index Company, Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges. Institutional opinion reference: China Merchants Securities report dated August 31, 2026, titled "Nvidia Guidance Significantly Exceeds Estimates; Domestic Large Models Released in Rapid Succession."

Regarding ETF fees: When subscribing or redeeming fund shares, agents may charge commissions at up to 0.5%. On-exchange trading fees are subject to actual brokerage charges, and no sales service fees apply. For the Huabao CSI Hong Kong Stock Connect Information Technology Feeder Fund, subscription fees are 0.30% for amounts below 1 million yuan, 0.20% for 1 million to 2 million yuan, and 1,000 yuan per transaction for amounts above 2 million yuan. Redemption fees for individual investors are 1.50% for holding periods under 7 days, and 0.00% for 7 days or more. For institutional investors, redemption fees are 1.50% under 7 days, 1.00% from 7 to 30 days, 0.50% from 30 to 180 days, and 0.00% for 180 days or more. No sales service fees apply.

As of August 17, 2026, the index constituent weightings referenced in this article are as follows: SMIC 15.178%, Lenovo Group 16.625%, Xiaomi-W 13.851%, Hua Hong Semiconductor 7.598%, SenseTime-W 3.575%, Zhipu 1.204%, and Minimax 0.242%. Index constituents shown here are for illustrative purposes only; descriptions of individual stocks do not constitute investment advice of any form, nor do they represent the fund manager's portfolio positions or trading activity.

The Huabao Hong Kong Stock Connect Information Technology ETF passively tracks the CSI Hong Kong Stock Connect Information Technology Composite Index, which has a base date of November 14, 2014, and was published on June 23, 2017. Index constituent compositions adjust periodically per the index methodology, and historical backtested performance does not indicate future index returns. Any information appearing in this article (including but not limited to stocks, commentary, forecasts, charts, indicators, theories, or any form of expression) is provided for reference only. Investors bear full responsibility for their own independent investment decisions. Furthermore, any views, analyses, or predictions herein do not constitute investment advice to readers and shall not incur liability for direct or indirect losses arising from use of this content. Fund investing carries risks; past performance does not guarantee future results, and the performance of other funds managed by the same manager does not constitute a guarantee of fund performance. Investors should invest with caution.