HONG KONG: Hong Kong stocks soared more than six percent Wednesday morning, led by another advance in developers after China last week unveiled a raft of measures to boost its economy, particularly the troubled property sector.

The Hang Seng Index surged 6.41 percent, or 1,354.06 points, to 22,487.74 – breaking above the 22,000 level for the first time since February 2023.

Traders in the city and mainland bourses have been rushing to snap up stocks since China last week began unveiling a raft of measures aimed at kickstarting the country’s struggling economy, with an emphasis on the real estate sector.

Developers led the rally in Wednesday’s surge, with Sunac China Holdings and Kaisa Group up more than 40 percent and Agile Group surging more than 70 percent higher.

Hong Kong stocks surge more than 3% in afternoon trade

Tech firms were also well bought, with ecommerce giant JD.com rallying close to 12 percent, Meituan piling on more than 14 percent, and market heavyweight Alibaba nearly six percent.

Investors have been racing to get back into the mainland Chinese and Hong Kong markets since Beijing began announcing its measures, which include interest rate cuts, help for mortgage holders and easing of home-buying rules.

Markets in Shanghai and Shenzhen were closed for a week-long holiday.