(Updates closing prices, adds more details and quotes)

By Jiaxing Li

HONG KONG, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Chinese tech stocks

resumed their bullish rally on Friday to register their best

winning streak in over two years, driven by DeepSeek's AI

breakthrough, which reignited investor interest in China's

technology capabilities.

The Hang Seng Tech Index jumped 5.6% to a

three-year high at close, bringing the week's advance to 7.3%.

That made a fifth consecutive week of gains, the best winning

run since China's post-COVID trade reopening started in late

2022.

The rally gained more momentum during the afternoon trading

session after a Reuters report that Chinese President Xi Jinping

plans to chair a symposium attended by Jack Ma and other Chinese

business leaders to boost private sector sentiment.

Alibaba ( BABA ) closed up 6.3% at a three-year high on

Friday. Its shares have surged 24% this week, the biggest gain

since its public debut in the city in 2019.

Xiaomi ( XIACF ) surged 7.3% to a record high on the

symposium news, while Tencent jumped 7.4%, its best

single-day gain in two years.

The Hang Seng Index tracking the broader market in Hong Kong

advanced 3.7% to near its October high.

Mainland stocks also edged up, with the blue-chip CSI300

Index and the Shanghai Composite Index adding

0.9% and 0.4% respectively.

"Global investors are starting to reassess China's

investibility within the tech and AI space, after an extended

period of limited attention, which could still lead to a

recovery of positioning with thorough fundamental research done

at the individual company level," Morgan Stanley strategists

including Laura Wang said in a note on Friday.

The launch of DeepSeek's high-performing and inexpensive

large language model has sparked a strong inflow into AI-related

stocks since the Lunar New Year, driving a revaluation in the

sector.

The Hang Seng Tech Index has surged more than 60% since the

September trough, while the benchmark Hang Seng Index has

advanced 12.7% this year to rank as the best performer in Asia's

major markets after years of lagging.

Hedge funds have been snapping up Hong Kong's tech shares

for the past two weeks, and some long-only investors, mainly

Asian funds, have also started to add positions to chase the

rally, according to Steven Leung, director of institutional

sales at UOB Kay Hian in Hong Kong.

Short-term momentum could stay for a bit longer on

consistent news flow from DeepSeek,

Alibaba ( BABA )

and

Baidu ( BIDU )

with new AI applications, he said.

The fact that U.S. President Donald Trump did not impose

reciprocal tariffs immediately eased concerns of a global trade

war for now.

Around the region, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific

shares outside Japan was up 0.37%, hovering near

the two-month high it touched on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei

fell 0.8% but was on track to eke out gains for the

week.