Hao Zhou of Guotai Junan International discusses the diverging indicators of the Chinese economy after April industrial profits delivered the fastest gain in over two years with a 24.7% jump. Zhou said the momentum is largely due to the “MSN” sectors – memory, semiconductor, and new energy – which are riding a massive wave of AI-driven demand. Meanwhile, traditional downstream industries like automakers and smartphone manufacturers are feeling the squeeze of rising upstream costs and shifting capital.
