Samsung Asset Management Lists New "KODEX China AI Semiconductor TOP10" ETF

Samsung Asset Management announced on the 25th that the "KODEX China AI Semiconductor TOP10" exchange-traded fund (ETF), which invests in the structural growth of China’s artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor industry, will be listed on the 26th.

This ETF selects 10 core companies that are expected to directly benefit from President Xi Jinping’s "AI rise" strategy and the expansion of capital expenditures (CAPEX) by Chinese big tech companies, and invests in them intensively. It includes major companies in the AI infrastructure value chain, such as AI-dedicated semiconductors, AI network chips, and AI storage and memory.

Amid the technological hegemony competition between the United States and China, computing power for AI data processing is emerging as a key element of national competitiveness. Globally, demand for semiconductors for AI computing continues to increase due to the expansion of AI data centers, the advancement of large language models (LLMs), and the spread of agent AI and physical AI. Accordingly, the AI semiconductor industry, which is at the core of AI infrastructure such as AI servers, networks, and storage, is becoming the top strategic industry for each country.

In particular, after U.S. export controls on AI chips, the Chinese government has been concentrating its policy capabilities on AI semiconductor self-sufficiency and localization. Local Chinese AI chip companies are focusing on developing graphics processing unit (GPU) and AI accelerator technologies, rapidly narrowing the technology gap with global companies. As a result, local Chinese companies are expected to expand their market share in China’s AI chip market going forward.

In addition, the Chinese government has designated AI infrastructure as a national strategic task, and major Chinese big tech companies such as Alibaba and Tencent are aggressively expanding AI capital expenditures. As policy funding from the government and capital from private big tech companies are being concentrated in the AI semiconductor sector, it is assessed that structural growth is now in full swing.

Lee Gahyun, manager at Samsung Asset Management, emphasized, "The essence of the AI hegemony competition between the United States and China is computing power, and its core is AI semiconductors," adding, "At this point in time, when the Chinese government’s strong policy drive and the large-scale expansion of capital expenditures (CAPEX) by Chinese big tech companies are taking place simultaneously, China’s AI semiconductor industry has entered a structural growth phase."