With expectations growing that China will ultimately ‘win’ the artificial intelligence race with the United States, more investors are embracing opportunities presented by Southeast Asian AI stocks.
The quality of Chinese AI models have been improving at a rapid pace. Although the US is still leading in terms of volume, having produced 40 notable AI models in 2024 compared to China’s 15, the gap in terms of output is rapidly closing, with performance differences on major benchmarks such as MMLU and HumanEval shrinking from double-digits in 2023 to near-parity last year.
Given that there’s a significant cost difference between Chinese AI models and their more expensive US counterparts, it’s little wonder that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang claimed in November that China would ‘win’ in artificial intelligence.
The cost-effectiveness of Chinese models means that more Silicon Valley companies are beginning to prefer adopting Southeast Asian AI ahead of its US counterparts. According to Martin Casado, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz, up to 80% of the AI startups pitches his firm has received are from US startups using Chinese open-source models.
Given that China is already making its presence felt in the adoption of global AI solutions, investors could benefit from looking away from Wall Street for opportunities in artificial intelligence stocks. But which ones are the best to track as the AI boom continues to build momentum? Let’s take a look at five key Chinese AI stocks to track as adoption rates continue to grow:
Alibaba (NYSE: BABA)
There’s little doubt that Alibaba has been China’s star AI performer in 2025. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange, the stock began December more than 90% higher than at the beginning of the year, and has plenty of room to grow further over the months ahead.
The stock is spearheading China’s AI development, pledging to invest $53 billion over the next three years to build out its artificial intelligence infrastructure, with the intention of pursuing artificial-general intelligence, which seeks to build human-level intelligence within its AI models.
But Alibaba’s biggest cause for optimism stems from the widespread adoption of its Qwen AI model, which Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky preferred over US models like ChatGPT, highlighting that it’s ‘fast and cheap.’
“Alibaba’s strength is is price efficiency, and with a reported 170,000 AI models based on Qwen, there’s plenty of evidence that the stock is a leader when it comes to the adoption of artificial intelligence worldwide,” said Iván Marchena, Senior Economist at global brokerage brand Just2Trade.
“As more companies race to onboard artificial intelligence for less, it will be models like Alibaba’s Qwen that cement their strength over the foreseeable future.”
Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU)
Another strong US-listed performer in Chinese AI is Baidu, which has rallied more than 40% in the 11-months leading up to December 2025.
Baidu represents one of the best value plays in China’s litany of AI stock options because the company consciously removed cost barriers in a bid to boost user adoption.
This has helped the company to establish a relatively strong user base looking ahead, but it’s the company’s robotaxi operations that could really serve as a springboard in the future.
Having picked up licences to expand its operations from the Wuhan area to Hong Kong, Baidu’s AI-powered robotaxies are highly anticipated to boost revenue growth for the company.
Recently, the services were granted a license to enter the Dubai market, helping to add more margin dollars to Baidu’s revenue base.
Tencent (HK: 0700)
Tencent is a stock that’s been building its AI capabilities long before the artificial intelligence boom. In 2018, it introduced its Effidit digital writing assistant tool powered by neural language models. Since then, the company has become a pioneering force throughout many different sectors.
Appointed to lead China’s AI innovation in computer vision for medical imaging, the company is closely linked to the development of artificial intelligence infrastructure domestically.
The company’s proficiency in language models means that it’s become a powerful tool in providing a stronger user experience in delivering personalized recommendations and engaging interactions.
This has not only helped to boost the quality of AI in the healthcare sector for early detection and disease prevention, as well as drug discovery, but it’s also made waves in the gaming industry, applying AI to game development and recommendations.
So far, Tencent’s biggest impact has been in the realm of fintech, and its dedicated WeChat Pay wallet is the second largest in use in China. The use of AI technology to improve its service for users has helped to create a system where credit risk assessment and fraud detection can be far more complex and bespoke for users.
With other impacts in agriculture, industrial, and manufacturing, Tencent’s far-reaching impact means that it’s well-positioned to grow as more sectors embrace artificial intelligence.
JD.com (HKG: 9618)
In terms of revenue alone, JD.com is the largest retailer in China, and an established leader in the nation’s eCommerce sector.
While the retailer has become increasingly popular for its emphasis on quality control, authenticity, and customer service, it’s JD.com’s innovations in AI that could help the stock to grow in 2026 and beyond.
The company has become a key innovator for services linked to AI, cloud computing, and finance, and AI-powered models like InvestingPro is an example of how JD.com is actively implementing artificial intelligence in ways that are focused on boosting the user experience and cementing its position as a market leader across different sectors.
Should JD.com continue to grow its services with AI integrations, it’s well-positioned as a low-risk growth stock with a bright future in a significantly large domestic market.
iFlytek (SHE: 002230)
Finally, we have the Shenzhen Stock Exchange listed iFlytek. Established in 1999, this tech stock offers voice recognition software and internet and mobile products that span different sectors.
While iFlytek hasn’t experienced the same rapid growth linked to the AI boom as other related stocks, there’s plenty of evidence that its spending on research and development puts the stock in good stead to catch up with its peers.
Having launched the AINOTE Air 2, an AI-powered notepad for both professionals and students, iFlytek is beginning to convert its emphasis on R&D into tangible innovations for users.
With the firm eyeing an expansion into Europe to boost its prospects beyond China’s mixed trading relationship with the United States, it’s possible that we’ll see iFlytek grow its market opportunities at a key time for AI adoption.
Embracing Chinese AI
Whether Chinese AI is set to ‘win’ the AI race with the United States or not, it’s clear that the nation has a strong and affordable innovation pipeline littered with strong players that could grow their value over time.
For investors seeking more opportunities to buy into artificial intelligence growth stocks, looking beyond Wall Street can open the door to high quality companies with plenty of room to develop into 2026 and beyond.
Source: https://www.fxstreet.com/news/5-stocks-to-track-as-cheap-chinese-ai-continues-to-win-over-silicon-valley-202601051650
