Alibaba notches small gains as Chinese companies boost Beijing on state TV
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Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) scored mild gains Wednesday, and other Chinese tech stocks advance as the heads of several top Chinese companies took part in what could probably best be called an unexpected TV program that was shown across China.
That's because 21 executives went on Chinese state TV to, in effect, voice their support for steps that Beijing has been implementing to boost China's economy. The program aired in the wake of China facing an increase in COVID-19 cases as the country has begun relaxing what have been some of the most-stringent COVID policies in the world, and as the country's new finance minister recently said he wanted to improve relations with the United States.
China has also spent most of the last two years cracking down on the activities of many of its leading tech companies by imposing new government regulations on many business operations such as how companies use and secure the personal information of their customers.
The most noteworthy Chinese executive to appear on the program was Alibaba (BABA) Chairman and Chief Executive Daniel Zhang Yong, who gave his support for China's economy in a move that was seen as working to make with Beijing regulators. Executives from JD.com (NASDAQ:JD), and manufacturers Fuyao Glass (OTCPK:FYGGY) and Fosun International (OTCPK:FOSUF) also appeared on the program. 
Alibaba (BABA) shares managed to eke out a small gain on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Tencent Holdings (OTCPK:TCEHY) shares climbed more than 3%, Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) rose almost 3% and NetEase (NTES) shares tacked on a gain of almost 2% on the day.
JD.com (JD), however, gave up its gains right before the close and ended the day down by almost 1%.
On Monday, Alibaba (BABA) made waves and founder Jack Ma gave up his control of Ant Group, amid moves by Beijing to provide support for the financial services technology company.