Exclusive | More attention coming to China advancements in AI, humanoid tech: Morgan Stanley

China’s advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and humanoid technology will continue to capture the imaginations of investors as the world turns its focus to the region, according to Morgan Stanley’s director of pan-Asia research.

“The DeepSeek announcement has shifted the fundamental discussion about China to technological innovation,” said Magdalena Stoklosa in an interview last month. “This theme is multi-year and incredibly important.”

Her team identified technological diffusion and the spread of AI across economies as key long-term research themes. AI start-up DeepSeek’s breakthroughs earlier this year in large-language models sparked a rally in Chinese stocks.

In February, the US investment bank upgraded Chinese stocks to equal weight from underweight, due to improving valuations and a significant shift towards new-economy companies.

“We still see that China is underweight from a perspective of global emerging markets positioning and it should effectively be at least close,” Stoklosa said.

Over the next 12 to 18 months, she said it was important to keep an eye on how various AI models work, spread through the economy and become monetised.

“In China, the discussion is layered with government support for AI infrastructure, a thriving innovation scene with start-ups, mega industry players, and a strategic push to build open-source models that make access to AI quicker and more affordable for many corporations,” she added.