The Hang Seng Index once exceeded the 23,000-point bar for the first time in over four months on extended optimism surrounding China’s private sector.

The Hong Kong stock market benchmark hit as high as 23,034 points in the morning after edging up at the open. The tech gauge advanced by over 2 percent.

On Monday, China’s state media reported that President Xi Jinping met with prominent Chinese entrepreneurs including Jack Ma Yun of Alibaba (9988) and the leaders of Huawei, BYD (1211), DeepSeek, Tencent (0700) and Xiaomi (1810) in a rare meeting, the likes of which had not taken place since 2018.

Xi said he expected the private sector to further prosper.