U.S.-traded shares of Chinese electric vehicle makers were hit by a sharp sell-off Monday, as investors soured on non-state-run Chinese companies following a weekend of intense political developments in China.
Shares of Li Auto plunged 19%, Nio’s were down 17%, and Xpeng Motors’ shed 13% in afternoon trading in New York, while shares of larger BYD lost about 9%. Other major Chinese companies, including Alibaba and Tencent Music Entertainment, also suffered sharp declines.
The sell-off followed a weekend in which President Xi Jinping appeared poised for an unprecedented third term as China’s leader after naming a series of loyalists to the Politburo standing committee, the inner circle of power in China’s ruling Communist Party.
Under Xi’s leadership, China’s government has added more restrictions on speech and movement and tightened regulations on technology firms. Analysts see further constraints ahead, with Bernstein’s Mark Schilsky writing in a Monday morning note that Chinese stocks are now “uninvestable.”
