The number of individual investors of Generation Z in China who invest using artificial intelligence (AI) and social media information is rapidly increasing, emerging as a new leader in the Chinese stock market. They are showing aggressive investment by trusting AI-recommended stocks and collective intelligence of online communities rather than traditional analyst reports. Bloomberg reported that Chinese Gen Z traders called “Xiao Dengs” are reorganizing the Chinese stock market worth 14 trillion dollars. According to a survey conducted by Ping An Securities and Hurun Research Institute, the number of investors under the age of 30 in China doubled between September 2024 and January 2025. This is one-third of all individual investors in China. Local media outlet Zimian also reported that more than 45 percent of newly opened securities accounts were investors under the age of 35.
Their investment style is very aggressive. They prefer short-term trading and pour funds into high-growth technologies such as AI, semiconductors, and renewable energy that the government fosters. Bloomberg said, “The taste of Xiaodeng who prefer high-growth stocks has recently ignited the tech craze, and their fast short-term trading style has increased the volatility of the market.”
In fact, thanks to Xiaodeng’s firepower, the CSI 300 index, the main index of the Chinese stock market, rose 18% in 2025, the highest rate since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Veteran investors are afraid of a downtrend, but new investors are afraid of FOMO,” said Yang Luyi, manager of the Prospect Investment Advisory Fund in Shanghai. “This difference in mindset is fundamentally changing the role of the Chinese stock market.”
Experts point out changes in China’s economic structure against the backdrop of young people flocking to the stock market. As the real estate market, which used to be a means of accumulating wealth in the past, stagnated and low-interest rates continued, funds that lost their place to go flowed into the stock market. In particular, analysts say that young people who are suffering from severe job difficulties despite their higher education are jumping into the market, considering stock investment as a “new opportunity for class mobility.”
JENNIFER KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
