Chinese technology shares have already plunged as global technology stocks wobble, Reuters reported on Oct. 26.

The STAR50 index of leading Chinese AI and semiconductor stocks has fallen 40 percent in less than four months, the report said. About $480 billion in market value has been erased. The blue-chip CSI300 index is also down about 20 percent from its June peak. The Nasdaq index is down 6 percent from a record high three weeks ago.

Traders cite lofty share prices, taxes and worries the United States could ban Chinese equipment from data centres, Reuters reported, amid assessments there was no clear trigger for the selling.

AI stocks account for 42 percent of market capitalisation and 57 percent of turnover in mainland China and Hong Kong markets, according to Goldman Sachs.

Stocks favoured by retail investors also slump. Unitree, a robotics company whose subscription ratio reached 8,000-to-1 at its listing, has halved since its August debut. Semiconductor maker CXMT has fallen more than a quarter in a month. Shares in optical components makers Innolight and Eoptolink are down about 60 percent from their peaks.

The STAR50 index price-to-earnings ratio has come down from 250 at its peak, but is still around 100.

The Nasdaq 100 index is around 30, raising worries the slide could extend. Hong Hao (훙하오), chief investment officer at Lotus Asset Management, said many companies that had been seeking listings would halt them.

Some also see the latest correction as unlikely to shake stock market reforms the government has been pursuing. Goldman Sachs included Innolight and CXMT in a recommended list it issued this month.